Through The Hourglass
by MelTheAngryVegan
Summary: The weird journal pages in the library, the strange memories, the monsters, it's all too much. Veneziano knows too much about this place for it to be considered normal. Japan is determined to uncover the mystery of the past and find out what his friends are hiding from him, before it's too late. Too late for the others to save Romano, and find out why he vanished. HetaOni :HIATUS:
1. Let The Game Begin

_If you venture about three hours east of the world summit building, there is a mansion, hidden away deep in a forest. This mansion is best left untouched and forgotten; but still, curiosity gets the best of the human race._

_But if you choose to go there, you may find that in time, you will become something much less than human._

_A monster._

_A monster spins this bloody cobweb of a tale; different threads, different paths. But which is guaranteed to lead the prey away from the spider's nest?_

_Too many times they have chosen the wrong path._

_Too many times they have died in vain._

_Too many times they had died while I had lived._

_Slowly, the more I went through, the more I began to realize I was beginning to spin _my_ web of misery. There is not much time left, before I, too, become that same wretched monster..._

* * *

"Ve~ It's really here!" Veneziano said excitedly as he gazed up at the tall mansion in front of he and his friends.

"I thought it was just a rumor. I never thought we'd actually find it..." Japan mused to himself, tapping his chin thoughtfully and adjusting his packpack slightly so he wasn't uncomfortable. He'd brought a few things with him, since he had been planning on spending the night at Germany's house after their little tour of the mansion.

Prussia grinned, hands on his hips. "It has such a desolate feel to it... Not bad."

Germany sighed and shook his head in disagreement. "I don't think it's very interesting, though..."

Japan nodded, hoping to please the other by agreeing with him; although he had to admit that the tall mansion had given him a rather unpleasant feeling. "Me neither." He glanced at the reddening sky above which signaled night to come upon them soon, and then back at the mansion. "Can't we just take a look at it from the outside and then go back?"

Veneziano crossed his arms and pouted. "But we just got here!" He protested in the whiniest, most disappointed voice that he could muster. "The least we could do is take a quick look around inside, especially after all the trouble we went through to get here!"

He turned to Germany, and gave him a cheery smile, trying to persuade the blond in favor of his suggestion. "Right Germany?"

Germany shuffled his feet awkwardly, before letting out a sigh. "Alright, fine... but only for a bit..."

Prussia snickered at the flustered look on his brother's face, but Germany silenced him with a glare. He opened the door with mild irritation, Prussia filing in after him. Japan was about to enter when he turned back to Veneziano, who was staring at the sunset through the trees.

If he could have seen him, Japan would've noticed the desperate longing on his face. It was quickly wiped away when Japan called to him, "Ita-kun? You are coming inside with us, correct?"

Veneziano turned around and beamed at the Japanese nation. "Of course! I just got distracted." he giggled sheepishly, before entering, his gaze fixed on his feet.

Japan took a moment to take in the sight of the sunset as well. The sun gave off a warm glow, though it could not take away the chill that had settled in the old nation's bones. He stepped inside and let the door shut behind him.

**.~*~.**

"Ve... it's really clean..." Veneziano observed, glancing down the different hallways that lead away from the entryway.

Japan nodded uneasily in agreement, randomly adjusting his small backpack, while absentmindedly kept a hand on the hilt of his katana with his free hand. He didn't know why he was feeling so uneasy about this place, but he couldn't shake this strange nervousness.

Germany seemed to be feeling the same way, proof of it showing when he spoke. "H-hey, shouldn't we go now?" he stuttered. _'Very unusual, for someone such as Germany to stutter. This place must really make him feel nervous..._'

Prussia cackled, sneering at his younger brother. "What's the matter, West? You scared? Besides, we just got here!"

The German was about to retort when a crash from the kitchen caught all four nations' attention.

An uncomfortable silence settled in the air, and it was broken by Germany's once again stuttering, voice. "H-hey, we really should go now..." Veneziano looked around nervously, trying to find an explanation for the source of the noise, while even Prussia seemed off-kilter about this.

Japan sighed and started walking down the hallway towards the direction of the noise. "Stop being so foolish, everyone." he shook his head. "Besides, it's not like there are ghosts or anything. I'll go see what made the noise, and then I'll come right back." Still, despite his words, Japan was very uneasy about this whole situation.

"Be careful, Japan!" Prussia called out to his friend, who turned back and gave a simple incline of his head, before heading back to the door at the end of the hall.

**.~*~.**

Japan walked down the hall, pausing by a door (the keyhole had rust on it, and the door seemed to be jammed), before he entered what seemed to be a simple kitchen, of sorts. To the bottom right corner of the room was a TV, table and sofa. At the corner opposite, there was a sink, stove, and some cabinets filled with food that Japan couldn't make out. He was pretty sure it was unsafe to eat.

His eyes almost immediately found a broken plate next to once of the kitchen appliances. He ventured towards it, kneeling down to inspect the shattered dishware. "It was just a plate..." he sighed, shaking his head at his friends' foolishness. Of course, only _they_ would be scared of a plate. He didn't bother to think about what may have caused it to crash.

He picked up the largest glass shard, careful not to cut himself as he placed it in his backpack. Putting it in his pocket, he might get a cut or tear the fabric. And who knows, it might come in handy later.

He started back out of the room and down the hall, glad that he had solved this little 'mystery'. The sooner they could leave, the better. As soon as Japan got back to them, they could leave. Because everything was fine.

But as soon as Japan had looked down the hall to where he'd come from, he knew that everything was most definitely not fine. The hall was empty. But it was the uneasy kind of empty that made you question if anyone or anything had ever been there to begin with.

Now, Japan knew the mansion had seemed to make everyone feel uneasy. So there was no way that they would go off on their own. _'Unless something chased them off.'_

He chose to ignore the voice in his head mentioning untold foreboding of what may have happened to his friends. The situation he found himself in was almost like one of America's horror games... But while experiencing something like this in life, instead of a video game, he realized just how scary it could be.

"Did they leave after all...?" he asked himself, ignoring his threatening, pessimistic thoughts. Maybe they had just left on their own. It was entirely possible.

"How regrettable..." Japan sighed. Yes, they had left on their own, he decided. They were just playing a prank on him and hiding outside the door of the mansion. His friends obviously wanted to scare him. (Of course, this didn't account for the plate being broken, but accidents happened. It could have been the wind.)

He shook his head somewhat fondly, thinking of how even Germany might be stifling a laugh at such performing a prank such as this. However, when he walked over to open the door, it did not open.

The dark-haired nation frowned, continuing to jostle the doorknob in a futile attempt to force the door open. Of course, they were probably holding it closed. Just another prank... "Alright, I suppose you have me now." he shouted to the door. "Now please, Ita-kun, Prussia-kun, let me out." Silence met his answer and he banged on the door with his fists. "Italy! Germany!" He kicked the door in frustration. "Prussia! Let me out already!"

However, there was still no reply. As the slight echo of his shout faded, Japan found himself frowning in worry. They were definitely not out there, and if they were, they would have stopped the prank by now. His friends were definitely gone. It would be foolish to explore the mansion alone, however, especially without consulting Japan about it first. But everyone had seemed so nervous, so he doubted that was it either.

"I suppose I will have to go look for them," he sighed again. After carefully consulting the wise game of 'Eenie-meenie-minie-moe', Japan chose to venture down the hallway left of him.

While there was a door on the side of one of the walls, it was definitely locked. "Maybe there are some keys around here..." he mused to himself, before he slowly rounded the corner of the hallway. There might be more rooms down this way. Hopefully not locked, and maybe he could find some keys too.

But as soon as Japan rounded the corner, he decided that it was definitely not a good idea to go looking down that hallway for now.

There was a door at the end of the hallway, and in front of it stood a gray... 'thing' was really the only way to describe it. Its stubby arms hung loosely at its side, and Japan could see... claws? It had a long skinny neck to support its large head, slightly misshapen head.

He was sure he would make a noise if he looked at it any longer, so he quickly turned the corner, pinning himself against the wall, breathing heavily in panic. He thought he heard what could've been a growl, and he knew that he may have made too much noise in his slight movements already.

But to his relief, no monster rounded the corner. He heard a door slam, and felt the presence vanish. Cautiously, he peeked his head around the corner. To his relief, the thing had left.

Nevertheless, Japan found himself trembling ever so slightly out of fear and confusion. "What... what on earth was that...?" he asked in a whisper, hoping that someone besides himself could provide an answer.

He quickly dismissed the thought of the thing from his head and sighed. "I must be getting tired." he muttered. After all, it had taken a long time to get here, and the sun was setting. Naturally, that would make someone tired, maybe even tired enough to see things.

"I should resume my search." he said quietly, turning back down the hallway and heading towards the stairs, calling his friend's names as he went by.

**.~*~.**

Once Japan had reached the second floor, he took a glance down the hallways he was face with. It seemed that there were many more doors to check on this floor. Deciding it would be best to start with the hallway nearest, he went to the door several meters away from the stairs. There was a door in front of him almost immediately as he came up the stairs, but he thought it would be fine to go back to it.

The Asian nation gently turned the doorknob of the door, pleasantly surprised when he found that it wasn't locked. The room was plain and simple, like the kitchen and most of the other mansion he'd seen. Wooden floor, white walls. It was a bit unnerving, but he brushed it off.

His eyes scanned the room, until they found a familiar-looking item on a bed a few feet away. He frowned as he picked up the object. "This... Germany-san's whip..." he muttered, tracing his fingers along the material. It was quite worn from use.

Wait.

Back up the fire truck.

Germany's whip.

On a bed.

_And it was quite worn from use and oh God Japan needed to stop thinking about such things and focus on finding his friends._

Besides, Germany would never leave anything lying around, much less a perfectly good, perfectly usable weapon. It wasn't like him. So why would it be here? Germany should have noticed if he dropped such a thing. Unless... unless... _'He was in such a panic state when he dropped it that he didn't notice.'_ Japan's mind quickly filled in the blank. That meant Germany couldn't have gotten too far, so obviously... he had to be on this floor.

Well, at least he had some sort of clue to go on. Japan carefully placed the whip in his backpack, as so not to disturb the rest of his items. He left the room, softly closing the door behind him. The door right across the hall turned out to be locked as well, so he went back towards the room in front of the stairs. Luckily, this door was also unlocked.

The room he entered consisted of a few bookcases, what looked like a curtain in the corner, and a desk with a chair. Japan found himself a little drawn to the books and began to search through them, glancing at the titles on the spines of the books.

That was when he heard a creepy, rattling noise.

It was muffled, but he was absolutely certain he'd heard it. He looked uneasily around the room, until his eyes settled on the curtain. He walked over and gently pulled it aside. As soon as he did, a metal door with intricate patterns was revealed; and the noise became more prominent. Japan slowly reached for the handle on the door and slid it open.

He stared in shock at Germany, who was curled up in a fetal position on the ground, and trembling uncontrollably. He looked as if he'd seen a ghost, and his teeth were chattering rather loudly. Once the shock had finally begun to settled, he knelt next to his friend, tentatively laying a hand on his shoulder. "G-Germany?" he stuttered. The only response he got was nervous teeth chattering.

Maybe he should use a little more force. "Germany, where are the others?" Japan tried to make it sound like a demand, but there was still no response from his friend. _'Maybe he is in shock...'_ he mused. Well, maybe some water would calm him down. "You look... shaken. I'm... I'm going to go and get you some water." Japan said, beginning to slide the door shut. "Don't... go anywhere..."

**.~*~.**

He exited the room with a sigh, heading back downstairs towards the kitchen. If he remembered correctly, there was a sink. He entered the kitchen, and sighed a little in relief when he saw a cup next to the sink. He hadn't noticed it before, but he paid that no mind. He turned on the water, and realized with a frown, that the tap didn't work.

Japan decided that now that the thing was gone, he would try the doors in the hallway from earlier. Deciding not to bother with the door the thing had gone through, he tried the door on the wall to the right of it.

He entered what seemed to be a small bathroom. Good. He turned and walked towards a.. toilet. He glanced down at it thoughtfully. "Well, this is water too..." he shrugged thoughtfully before smacking his forehead.

Was he really thinking of giving Germany toilet water to calm him down? Japan sighed. "I really am so foolish," he muttered, going back over to the dusty mirror on one of the walls. It had multiple large cracks running through, as if someone had smashed it...

There was a sink below it, and a cabinet to his right. He slowly turned the faucet on, smiling with relief as water poured out. "Thank God... the water in here seems to be working fine." It was strange, though, that water would work in one area of the house but not another. However, he decided it best not to question it, as it was probably just one of the many mysteries this mansion held.

Japan quickly made his way back to Germany. After propping the blond up into a sitting position, he handed him the glass. "Here, drink some water. It may help." he suggested. "It's not filtered, though..."

Germany slowly downed the water, his teeth chattering and body trembling beginning to subside for the time-being. Once he had drunk it, he finally spoke. "Is this really water...?"

Japan frowned thoughtfully. He hadn't thought about the water, or it being safe to drink. "Judging by its color... probably..." His words probably did little to ease Germany, but he seemed to be fine now.

"I see..." A frown creased the other's gruff face before he sighed and shook his head. "Sorry for falling apart like that, Japan. I feel better now, thanks to you."

Japan nodded, feeling a bit of pride swell in his chest at being able to make him feel better. "That's good to hear." he said. "Have you seen the others? Ita-kun and Prussia?"

Germany's face went pale again and he shook his head. "At any rate, we ran for our lives. Those two ran in different directions... I think..." he rubbed his forehead and sighed. "I'm sorry, just... give me a moment to pull myself together."

Japan nodded, thoughts from earlier beginning to surface. _'That thing I saw must have chased them. I can't think of any other explanation...' _"You rest here, then. I will go and look for them," Japan said firmly.

Germany nodded, letting out another sigh. He blinked suddenly in realization as if remembering something. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a key, covered in small patches of rust. "Here, I found this when I was running. You might be able to find some use of it..."

Japan gingerly took the key. He'd gotten a tetanus shot before, so the rust wouldn't harm him, probably. Oh, why was he even thinking about that? He had more important things to think about! He brushed his fingers along the key, faintly making out the word 'library'.

"Perhaps they have taken refuge in the library." he suggested half to himself. He turned back to Germany, giving him a small reassuring smile. "You rest here, germany. I will go and look for Ita-kun and your brother."

Germany nodded thankfully, turning back to the closet. "Alright, then. I think I'll rest some... If you need me, I'll be in here." Japan nodded as the other closed the door, and he noticed the worried loOkoon the blond's face. Well of course, he'd be worried about his brother and Veneziano. Japan knew how much he cared for the both of them... adjusting his backpack, Japan set off out of the room, determined to make his search successful.

* * *

**Hello! :D If you have made it into the story this far, thank you for reading, cause it means a lot uwu Anyways, the events in this timeline shall stray slightly from the regular events of the shown timeline in HetaOni for the purpose of the story. So that's why there will be discrepancies. Some minor, some not minor. But that's all I can say**. **For now... eue**

**Reviews are welcome and accepted. If you see any errors that I missed in the text, feel free to tell me. uwu uwu uwu can you tell i like that face uwu**

**Anyways. Next chapter will be posted next week. Stay tuned~~~**


	2. The Search Is On

Japan left Germany alone in the closet, and began checking rooms on the floor to see if the key would fit in any of them. After a few minutes with no progress made, he closed his eyes, trying to think of where it could be.

It suddenly clicked. He remembered a locked door he'd passed on his way to the kitchen; he didn't spend that much time looking at it, but he could faintly remember traces of rust on the keyhole.

He quickly headed downstairs towards said door, setting the key in the keyhole. It unlocked with a faint click, and Japan smiled in relief. He put the key in his pocket and stepped inside the library, closing the door behind him.

His sense of happiness quickly vanished when he heard what sounded like heavy, ragged breathing echoing through the room. He felt a chill run down his spine. Soon, thudding footsteps could be heard. But they soon vanished as well. Japan slowly turned the corner leading into the library. "I had better check the whole library..." he muttered to himself. He wanted to confirm his suspicion that... that no else one was here.

Japan searched every corner of the library, staying on high-alert in case anything tried to jump out at him. But after his brief search, he found that there was no one else in here. He hadn't found anyone else after all.

A sigh of relief escaped the Japanese nation's lips as he wandered to a table in the corner of the room.

On the table, he sifted through a large stack of papers. "June 6," he read aloud, to no one in particular, "There are only four of us left. Arthur's death was most recent, in the library." Japan turned to the chair next to him and let out a startled gasp. For a brief second, he'd seen a flash of someone's dead, bloody body slumped over in the chair. But it vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. And... and... and he could have sworn it looked like England. But that was crazy.

He turned back to the paper, nervously reading on with confusion and interest. "In case you have already forgotten, it will be in the library in case you need to find it again." What exactly would be in the library? Random notes filled the rest of the torn page. He couldn't quite make out all of the messy scrawls, but decided that the paper was important. He put it in his pocket and was about to reach for another one of the torn pages when a large gray claw came out of nowhere and swiped at the table, _smashing it in half_.

Japan yelped in surprise and jumped back as quick as he could, slamming into the wall behind him in the process. He rubbed his sore shoulder, biting back another yelp as the monster glared him down.

_'I have to get out of here!'_ he thought, frantically racing towards the door. But the monster was faster, and Japan was quickly cornered.

"It seems that I have no choice but to fight you..." he muttered, unsheathing his katana and brandishing it threateningly in front of the thing. He had to beat this thing, and _fast_. He needed to get out of here as soon as he could. Japan reached into his pocket to ready the key but _the key wasn't there oh God why wasn't it there!_

He was drawn from his panicked thoughts by a searing pain in his shoulder. He'd just barely managed to dodge the creature's claws tearing at him. _'I must have dropped the key somewhere in the library... I have to find it and then get out of here and back to Germany!' _With his goal in mind, Japan charged towards the monster, leaping into the air and bringing down his sword viciously down the monster's head. It let loose a raspy shriek, a thick, gray goop dripping from the wound. The nation took this opportunity to duck behind a nearby bookshelf for cover.

He tightened the grip on his sword, hearing the footsteps come closer to where he was. Japan didn't realize it at the moment, but he had an unnaturally small, and excited grin lighting up his face. He'd forgotten what this was like... The adrenaline rushing through his veins, not knowing what to expect, only knowing that his enemy would attack with amazing force, and the thrill of the fight.

The monster drew nearer towards him, and Japan ran all the way behind the bookshelf furthest from it. He was now sandwiched between the bookcase and the wall, and there was a wall right behind him, but he wasn't all too scared anymore. He frowned when he took a step back, realizing something was under his foot.

He leaned down to quickly pick it up. It was the key. "Thank God..." he muttered, shoving it in his pocket before turning back to the approaching beast. His fear was vanishing as he ran to the monster again and leaping into the air, bringing his sword down onto the monster's forehead. More gross liquid spewed from its head, which Japan could now assume was the creature's blood.

The creature was trying to land a hit on Japan, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. Japan jammed his blade in the monster's eye with an aggressive grunt.

That just about did it. The monster keeled over, another insane-sounding shriek ringing through the air. Japan ripped his blood from the thing's eye and raced past it, running towards the door, He quickly unlocked it and was in the hallway, leaning against the door of the library as he slammed it shut.

He let a sigh escape him, sinking to his knees. That was... exhilarating to say the least. He frowned slightly when pain shot through him as he tried to get up. He glanced at his bloody shoulder and grimaced. It probably shouldn't have hurt as much as it did, though. He'd had worse wounds that hurt less than this...

Japan rifled through his pockets for the piece of paper he'd found earlier. That image of England from earlier... it had really scared him. But who exactly was 'Arthur', and why did the paper seem to show him that image? And who wrote it? It looked like it could have been torn from a diary, or journal.

He sighed and shook his head, deciding to continue his search for now. He picked up his sword which was covered in the monster's disgustingly thick blood. Right. He'd continue the search _after_ cleaning his sword.

**.~*~.**

Once Japan used a few towels in the nearby kitchen to get rid of the monster's blood and had deemed his sword to be in pristine condition again, he went back into the library to retrieve he rest of the papers. If the monster had attacked the moment he had begun to read them, then they must be important somehow. However, he didn't want to risk reading them right now. He'd read them later.

He shoved the papers in his backpack hastily, hoping that if he did it quick enough, the monster wouldn't come back. From what remained of the table and torn papers, he noticed a book on the ground. But what really intrigued him that at the book was open, and from what he could see on the page, his name was written on it. "... It wouldn't hurt to read this, would it?" he muttered to himself. His interest was piqued now, especially when he noticed there was a key taped to the page.

"Japan: Dismiss the enemy, cursing it to damnation with a slash of your sword." As soon as he read the words, Japan felt a strange... well it was some sort of energy, rush through him. It would be a good idea to keep the paper, so he tore it from the book, and then shoved it in his pocket, and the book was placed in his backpack.

Japan brushed a thick layer of dust off the key, finally able to make out the location. "I've already passed a bathroom earlier..." he muttered to himself as he left the library. "Maybe it was the door where I first saw..." He was nervous about going back to where he first had seen the thing, but he knew he had to. He might be able to find a new key, or some clue that could help them escape the mansion.

He had soon reached the door where he'd last seen 'it'. But... the door was already opened? Then what was the key he had to be used for? He carefully stepped inside, letting out a gasp when the door behind him slammed. There was absolutely no light to see!

"Oh darn it..." he muttered, blindly groping around for the light switch. "Where's the light?" For a second, Japan could have sworn he'd heard heavy breathing.

But that was just him, right?

He sighed in relief when his hand came in contact with what felt like a switch. He flipped it, taking a second to adjust to the light in the room. It also took him a second to realize that the monster he'd just killed ten minutes ago was standing in front of him, looking perfectly fine. "No!" he cried angrily. "You're... you're supposed to be dead! I killed you!" Nevertheless, with a growl of frustration, he unsheathed his sword, ready to fight.

The monster charged, swiping its arm at the nation. Japan just barely ducked in time, wincing as splintered wood fell from the door due to the force of the monster's blow. There wasn't much room for him to fight at all! He ducked to the side of the creature, managing to sink his sword into its side. It shrieked, and the same thick gray goop from earlier spill from the wound. The monster growled and turned to the other, a large purple glow of energy forming above the thing's head.

"_YoU... wOnT... eScApE..."_ Japan recognized the raspy voice belonging to the monster, and just barely managed to roll out of the way to avoid the blast, his back against the door. His katana was knocked away from him with another swipe.

He angrily clenched his fists, glowering at the thing. "What the hell do you want? If you're trying to kill me, you're wasting your time!" The monster's eyes narrowed, and Japan felt his heart nearly stop. Apparently, his statement was about to be disproved.

_'Is it going to-'_ The monster raised its claw, and Japan squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the blow. It never came. Instead, he was plunged into darkness again. After a few moments, he felt the chill in the air begin to die down. He flipped the light switch again, and to his relief, it was gone.

"Thank God," he said to himself once again, closing his eyes for a moment to regain his breath. Once Japan had regained his composure, he began to search the room. There had to be something in here -a key, a clue to the next place he should search- that would help him.

He walked over to the bathtub, staring down at the red liquid in it in disbelief. He felt sick to his stomach, and wanted to drain the darn thing as quickly as possible. Why was it filled with blood...? _'Kool-aid...'_ he quickly corrected himself, biting his lip as he reached his arm into the bathtub, feeling around for the drain plug.

Once he had found it, he gave it a quick tug so that the thing would start draining, and then he yanked his arm out, gasping for breath. However, as it drained, absolutely no traces of the blood remained on the side of the bathtub. There was a key at the bottom, but only the edge of the key was covered in blood. Japan tentatively turned on the cold water of the bathtub, and to his relief, only water came out. After rinsing and drying off his arm and sword, he read the inscription on the key. "Kid's Bedroom," he read aloud. Well, that had to be upstairs. But which room? He could eliminate three of the rooms already, but there were four more to search.

"Forgive me, friends, this may take a while." he muttered as he left to search the upstairs.

**.~*~.**

Japan was starting to think that he really needed to get his shoulder taken care of. He glanced at the red-coated flesh, and could tell that it was beginning to swell. "Damn it," he cursed, wincing when he brushed his hand against it. This was strange. Too strange for words.

There was no way a shoulder wound should have hurt this much, and he shouldn't have been bleeding so much either! "If I don't find something to treat it with soon, then it could become infected..." his frown deepened. "That would certainly be a problem."

Ah well, he'd worry about that later. Right now, he needed to find Veneziano and Prussia. He felt himself grow weak in the knees at the thought of the monster attacking them, but... but Veneziano was very fast, he could probably avoid it. But Prussia... well, he didn't have the status of being a nation, and that's what Japan was really worried about.

He reached into his pocket, pulling out the key he'd found in the bathroom, and the key he'd found in the library. The key from the library was a much smaller key, and it probably wouldn't fit in any doors. Maybe it unlocked something smaller? Like a safe, or a chest...

He sighed and placed the smaller key in his pocket again. He couldn't worry about that right now. He'd figure out the mystery of the keys later. However, Japan /idid/i notice the blood on the edge of the key begin to spread over the key, very slowly, but surely. "That's... weird..." he muttered to himself. But then again, maybe it was a clue! Like the rust on the library key and keyhole, maybe if he found the keyhole up here with blood on it...

Japan found it almost immediately. In the hall across from where Germany was, there was another locked door (so many doors were locked, and they all looked the same. It was annoying and confusing!) with traces of blood on the doorknob and keyhole. "This is it..." he muttered, slowly unlocking the door. He stepped inside the room, looking for any signs of life when he the door behind him slammed and a hand was clamped over his mouth.

Of course, being a prisoner of war before, this had happened more often than Japan would like to admit. So his first instinct was to bite down on the hand as hard as he could. He heard his 'captor' yelp and push him away. "Dammit, Japan! That hurt!"

Japan whipped around at hearing his name, ready to draw his katana and silence the offender, before dropping his defensive stance and sighing in relief. "Oh, Prussia, it's you..."

"Yeah!" Prussia frowned grumpily at the other, holding up his ungloved and bloody hand. "You didn't have to bite me that hard!"

The Japanese nation yelped in surprise, before Prussia laughed again. "Relax, you didn't really bite me that hard, you bit my other hand." He held up his other hand with a grin, which was gloved, but had traces of teethmarks.

"Th-then what happened to your hand?" Japan asked, worry over taking him.

Prussia glanced down at his hand and grimaced. "I guess when I was running, away from that... that fucking _thing_, it was going to attack me. But I put my hand up at the last second, and, uh, this happened... it was totally unawesome... and I need a new glove..."

"Prussia, it could have torn through your hand! Be more careful!" Japan exclaimed, taking into note that Prussia was lightly shaking. Whether from fear of the monster or his injury, he didn't know. He was worried about his friend, but angry at him for doing something that... well, stupid. Prussia didn't have the status of a nation, and he could die as a human anytime. And it was especially dangerous while they were in this mansion, and with that creature roaming around...

"Yeah, well your shoulder looks a lot worse!" he shot back, before sighing and lowering his voice. "Did it attack you?"

The Asian nation nodded. "More than once, yes. But I'm fine."

Prussia shook his head. "I don't think so. Japan, _you_ need to be more careful..." He gently brushed his fingers across the shoulder wound and Japan flinched. "See? We need to take care of you..." he muttered with a sigh, grabbing the key from Japan's hand and locking the door before directing him towards the bed.

"Prussia, can this wait?" Japan asked anxiously. "I want to find Ita-kun as soon as possible. And we need to get back to Germany." the albino frowned and crossed his arms. "Please?" he nearly whined.

Prussia shook his head. "Ita can wait. I'm sure he's safe." Japan sighed, knowing it was no use arguing, and simply sat on one of the beds as Prussia began to tear the sheets. "He can run pretty fast. Besides, we don't want your running around with that kinda injury. The least I can do is bandage it." he sighed, shaking his head as he began to wrap the older nation's wounds.

Japan bit his lip and winced. After a few moments, Prussia asked, "So, is West okay?"

The Japanese nation nodded. "Yes, your brother is fine. He's in a room across the hall." Prussia nodded absentmindedly, sighing in relief and finishing the task of tying off Japan's bandage.

"That's good. We'll clean the wound later. but for now, don't move your arm around too much, okay? Otherwise, it'll get worse." Japan nodded, sighing as the bandage was tied off.

"C'mon, let's go find West and Ita!" Prussia stood up, flashing a grin at Japan to encourage the both of them, who chuckled softly and nodded in agreement. The two unlocked the door and walked out into the hallway.

Japan raised his finger and pointed, "Germany's in that room over there."

"Right," Prussia nodded. "We'd better go-" He was cut off with a loud growl from behind them, making the hairs on the back of both nations' neck stand up. They whipped around to face the monster. Japan narrowed his eyes and Prussia groaned. "I can't fight with my hand like this... This is so unawesome!"

The older nation sighed, shaking his head. "Don't worry. If we work together, this can be over fairly quickly." And with that, he charged. Trying to remember the words on the paper from earlier, he focused his energy into his sword as he sunk it into the thing's side. A blinding red light flickered from the sword and flashed through the hall a brief moment before disappearing.

Japan was suddenly dazed from requiring to use so much of his strength, he barely noticed pulling his sword away and stepping aside as Prussia finished the thing off. He was snapped out of his daze by Prussia, who was shaking his friend's shoulders and trying to get him to respond. "Hey, Japan! Are you okay?"

"Hm? O-oh yes, I'm fine..." he muttered, rubbing his forehead. "What... what happened?"

Prussia stared at Japan with a mixture of awe and confusion. "Well, you look kinda dazed, so I don't think you'd remember it... But whatever kind of attack you used just about blew a hole through that fucking monster's side! It was awesome!" He clapped a hand on the other's uninjured shoulder with a grin.

"Oh... thank you, I suppose..." he muttered, sheathing his sword. "Come on, let's meet up with Germany now."

**.~*~.**

Prussia raised an eyebrow, staring at the closet before turning back to Japan. "He's in _here_?" Japan nodded. The albino sighed, shaking his head and chuckling. "Hey West!" Prussia yelled, knocking on the metal door with his uninjured hand. "What're you doing, building a mall in there?" he cackled.

"Prussia?! You're okay?" Germany cried.

His brother laughed heartily in return. "Of course I am (for the most part)! No way something as unawesome as that freak monster could hurt something as awesome as me."

There were a few clinks and clanks, some grumbling and shifting, before Germany finally got out of the closet. "Nein, I was just... in there." he seemed a little flustered at his brother's taunting leer, but Japan quickly broke in.

"We need to go and find Ita-kun. I have not searched the next floor yet, so we should hurry up and do that."

Prussia nodded, thoughtfully rubbing his chin. "Alrighty, then. Let's go!"

The trio headed out to the third floor, annoyed that all the doors were jammed or locked. However, they did manage to open one door on the third floor. "Alright, we're getting somewhere." Germany muttered, searching under a suspicious looking chair. He paused before speaking again. "Hey Japan, did you manage to find my whip? I think I dropped it when I was running."

Japan nodded, fishing through his backpack for the whip and handing it to Germany. "Ah, yes. It was in a bedroom a few meters down from the room you were in."

The blond frowned as he attached the whip to his belt. "That's weird... I didn't go over there." He sighed and shook his head. Then again, in this place, who knows why anything strange happened.

"So, any clues as to where Ita might be?" Prussia asked, searching through a bookshelf in the corner of the room.

Japan shook his head. "No. All the rooms on the third floor are locked." He pursed his lips. "I can go check again, though. Just to be thorough."

Germany nodded. "I think that would be a good idea. Prussia and I-"

"Hey! Guys, come over here and check this out!" The blond grumbled in annoyance at the interruption, but he and Japan followed to where Prussia was standing, the bookshelf moved aside.

He grinned as they approached. "Look at this thing!" Japan leaned down, surprised to see a white round creature with blue eyes and glasses blinking at him innocently.

"Nyergh." It whined, flailing like a fish.

"Oh dear. The poor mochi is stuck..." Japan muttered, petting the top of the thing's head to soothe it.

"We could try to get it out..." Germany mused, scrutinizing the mochi and wall behind it, before turning to Japan and raising an eyebrow. "Mochi?"

He nodded. "Yes, that is what it is called. I just can't imagine what it's doing here..."

"Well... Japan," Prussia said, "Do you think you could look for something to help us get it out? I don't think bare strength's gonna do it."

"Well, I suppose so. It is a big house after all." He paused. "You two stay here. I'll look for something to help the mochi, and see if I can find Ita-kun as well."

"Alright. Be careful, and get back as soon as possible." Germany replied. Japan could tell he was definitely worried about Veneziano, and he was too. They'd have to find him and soon.

The dark-haired nation nodded, bowing his head slightly as he left. "Be careful you two. And stay here." he added, before shutting the door behind him.

* * *

**Alright, this chapter is longer than the last one, and you may be able to notice a few minor differences. They may confuse you, yes, but they're all important. owo Anyways, there's a meteor shower tonight, and you may want to watch for that. All feedback you guys send me is appreciated, so please, review to your heart's content~**

**Also, if there are any specific pairings you'd like to see, let me know. I haveb't worked anything out for the group outside the mansion, so go ahead and tell me in a review~ Okay sorry for bugging you im gomen. uwu Next chapter will be a bit shorter, and up next Sunday. Please keep in mind that school is starting soon, and updates may be a bit slower then, because I'm trying to get senpai to notice me uwu**

**So, next week, new chapter. Bye bye!**

**((psssst reviews) im not gomen uwu)**


	3. Reunited At Last

The room Japan entered simply had two beds int the corner, a few couches, and a table. Around the sofas, he found a few more scraps of paper. He put them in his backpack, knowing that they would come in handy later from what he'd learned from the papers in the library.

Japan moved towards a lever on the far wall, with a piece of paper tacked to the wall next to it. "'Up is heaven, middle is earth, and down is hell'..." he muttered, grimacing. "It must have to do with the direction of where I move the lever."

Keeping his grip tight on his blade in case some sort of trickery happened, Japan pushed the lever up as high as it would go.

Nothing happened. He was beginning to think the lever was broken before a white-hot pain shot through him, and he let out a yelp. Pain seared through all of his body, sweat beginning to bead his brow. The heat was suffocating his insides, but he didn't have enough strength to pull away no matter how much he struggled. It felt as if his very skin was being burned off, from the inside out-

Japan finally shoved the lever downwards, hoping that the next setting wasn't going to try to burn him. The fire in his skin quickly faded with the moving of the lever, and he slumped against the wall in agony, almost not hearing the soft clink of something falling to the floor. He gasped for breath a few moments, before making his way to the item. "Another key..." he muttered.

Not bothering to see what it said, he shoved it in his pocket and went back to the lever. Damn it, he was curious to see what would happen if he pushed the lever down. Would he get electrocuted? Would he get the key to the front door? He had to know. So he pushed the lever downwards as much as he could. There was a faint rumbled, and Japan stared in shock as one of the beds in the corner moved, revealing a small hole.

"It leads to one of the locked rooms, I'll bet." Japan said to himself, going over to the hole to inspect it. He was able to make out a white piano before he misstepped too far to the edge of the hole, causing the edges of it to crumble,and causing him to fall through.

Now, Japan had ninja skills (quite literally in fact) so he managed to somehow land on his feet without breaking anything. He winced at the pressure on his feet, and after a few moments, was able to stand. There were a few sets of drawers in the room, but they turned up empty. There were some weird colored numbers on the piano too; but he didn't pay them any mind. He had to find Veneziano.

He left the piano room with a sigh, closing the door behind him. He'd check the third floor, and then re-investigate the rest of the floors.

He walked to one of the locked doors on the third floor, and pulled out the key he had found earlier. "Maybe..." he muttered hopefully, letting a grin come onto his face when the door was unlocked. He entered another library, but much more... well, not creepy. He felt more at ease in this room of the mansion than he had at any other room.

Japan froze in his place when he heard a strange shuffling noise farther down the room.

There was a long stretch of bookshelves, and whatever was causing the noise could be... well, anywhere between them. His sword drawn, Japan carefully stalked down the aisle, looking for anything suspicious. Eventually, he could tell the shuffling was right in front of the next bookcase he was at.

He took a deep breath and darted in front of the bookcase. He was greeted by Veneziano, who's back was to him. He was shuffling his feet, as if trying to dust away invisible dust on the floor. "... It was here..." he muttered, before turning around, and yelping in surprise. "J-Japan?" he stuttered.

Japan nodded, lowering his sword and eyeing his friend with suspicion. "Yes... Ita-kun? Are you unharmed?"

The red-head nodded, laughing softly. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. I just... You really scared me!" He laughed again, and it sounded somewhat forced. This made Japan begin to feel wary. At noticing his friend's doubting gaze, he smiled brightly. "Really Japan, I'm okay."

The dark-haired nation nodded, eventually sheathing his sword with a sigh. All of this exploring of the mansion was tiring. Veneziano eyed his friend with concern before letting out a gasp, running over. "Japan, your shoulder!"

Japan blinked, suddenly remembering his injury. "Ah, yes..." he frowned. "I was attacked earlier. But don't worry, I'm fine."

Veneziano quickly shook his head. "No, you're not. Japan, your shoulder is hurt, and this place isn't normal. It's causing an extra strain on you, I can tell." Japan's eyes widened; he was surprised at the intelligent words coming from his friend's mouth. What he was saying (for once) actually made sense. "Here, let me see it." he instructed, not waiting for an answer before unwrapping the wound.

Japan shivered as cold air hit the exposed flesh. He half-expected Veneziano to faint at the sight of his gruesome-looking shoulder, but he didn't even bat an eye, gently placing a hand to it. He muttered an inaudible word, and a soft light flowed from the Italian's hand. The Japanese nation gaped, the warmth from the light spreading over his shoulder. He felt the pain begin to diminish before completely fading. Veneziano removed his hand and smiled softly. All that was left was the torn evidence of his katana sleeve.

"Ita-kun..." he murmured in amazement. "Th-thank you. How..."

Veneziano smiled brightly. "I... found some papers earlier, and I read through them." he stared down at the floor thoughtfully. "They taught me some cool stuff."

Japan nodded and frowned. "Ita-kun... No offense, but I expected for you to be hiding in a closet or something." At the thought, both men chuckled. "How are you keeping so calm about this?"

The latter of the two nodded seriously. "Well, when that _thing_ showed up, I wanted to cling to Germany and cry..." he shook his head as if driving away such thoughts. "But both he and Prussia were falling apart, too. So I decided I'd have to try to keep a level-head, and... even I was amazed at how calm I felt."

The suspicion Japan had about his friend earlier was now gone, and he internally breathed a sigh of relief. He'd felt almost scared to see Veneziano act so rationally, but it all made sense now. And well, it helped to have more than one person not quaking in their boots.

"Ah, it was the same for me." he finally said.

Veneziano giggled and clapped his hands together. "Great! Where's Germany and Prussia?"

"Oh, they're on the floor above us. I had to find a tool to help get a mochi out of the wall, but I can get that later," He turned, not noticing the look of confusion in is friend's eyes as he did. "Besides, they'll be happier to see that you're alright."

Veneziano nodded, snapping out of his daze and happily following his friend. "Ve~ They will, they will!" He grinned, then removed a container from behind his back. "Looky look! I brought some pasta along with me, but I forgot! I'll put it in your backpack if that's okay."

Japan nodded, removing his backpack for the younger. "Sure, go ahead. It's getting kind of heavy now." he confessed followed by a light chuckle.

"Ve... there's a lot of paper in here." Veneziano observed, lagging a foot or two behind his friend and trying to get the backpack to accommodate the container of his precious pasta.

"Hm, yes. I found them in the library. I haven't gotten a chance to read through them all quite yet, though. I was in a bit of a hurry if that thing happened to come back." He suppressed a shudder. The Italian nodded thoughtfully, slipping one of the papers into his pocket before zipping the pack up and slinging it over his shoulders.

"I can carry it for now, ve~" he said cheerfully as Japan opened the door.

The other nodded, smiling gratefully. "Thank you. Now, let's hurry back."

**.~*~.**

Japan was faced with a rather pressing dilemma. He'd never dealt with this kind of thing before, and he needed to think quickly. He was usually able to think quickly when needed; but it was a bit more difficult when his friends' lives were on the line.

Germany and Prussia were feet away from the monster, while Japan and Veneziano stood in the doorway, eyes wide in shock. Prussia 'tsked' and shook his head disapprovingly. "You guys came at a bad time." he muttered.

Germany turned to Japan and Veneziano, concern and relief written on his face. "Italy, I'm glad you're alright. Japan, you take him out of here, now."

Veneziano quickly shook his head. "Germany, no! I won't let you do this!"

The blond frowned. "You both have to go, now."

Prussia nodded. "He's right, you need to go." He took a step back as he glanced at the shortest of the group. "Japan!" he exclaimed. "Now!"

However, Japan stood frozen still, like a statue, before simply rubbing his ear. "That's weird," he commented aloud. "I... seem to have gone deaf suddenly."

"Oh goddamnit!" Prussia cried in exasperation. "Both of you get outta here, now!"

"Italy!" Germany bellowed. "That's an order!"

Veneziano blinked in surprise, catching Japan's glance before gasping. "O-oh! I've gone deaf too!"

Germany sighed in exasperation. "You two..."

Japan shook his head and smiled as he drew his sword. "Ah, do not worry Germany. It's no bother. I feel proud to fight along with you both again. It seems that I shall draw my sword in the name of the Axis once more."

Veneziano grinned in return, his hand reaching for the pistol attached to his belt. "Ve, that's right! I forgot that we've been at peace for a while now. It'll be good to have something to do..."

Prussia sighed and shook his head. "If you're gonna do it, do it fast. That thing's about to attack!" The monster raised its claw, Japan and Veneziano raced over, and the fight began.

**.~*~.**

Japan attacked first, lunging fr the thing's claw-like hand as soon as it was raised. Veneziano whipped out his pistol and fired at the thing's forehead. It recoiled with an angry shriek, stumbling back. Its beady eyes caught sight of the Italian, and it growled. Veneziano glared right back, firing his gun once more.

Japan noticed this reaction and was stunned, but had little time to think, as a large purple light formed above the thing's head and all four nations were caught.

He yelped as he was thrown against the wall by the force of the blast. Through hazy eyes, he could see Prussia had managed to avoid most of the blast, and was attacking it along with a dazed Germany. Once more, Veneziano rushed to Japan's side, and cast a warm, glowing light over him, healing him instantly.

"Thank you, Ita-kun," he said, "but you should really worry about those two as well. I'll be fine."

Veneziano frowned uncertainly before nodding and racing back over to join the fight. Japan's hand found its way to the paper in his pocket. He fingered it curiously for a moment before smirking.

Germany dived in front of Veneziano and snapped his whip viciously as it tried to attack the Italian once again. '_It seems to be targeting Italy. Is it because he's the weakest...? Whatever. I have to be sure to protect him.'_ He was taken from his thoughts by a jolt of pain in his leg. The purple blast was fired again, nearly blowing off Germany's leg if not for his older brother.

"West, pay attention!" Prussia snapped, slicing at the beast furiously, though he too, was growing tired. Japan had returned to the group now, and was panting lightly.

"Ita-kun, you take care of these two. I'm going to try something." Prussia narrowed his eyes in concern before recognition dawned on him. He put an arm around Veneziano and pulled him and his brother back.

"You'd better be careful." he ordered. Japan gave a slight incline of his head, smiling, before he focused his energy once more, to strike the curse.

Unnoticed, Veneziano had his pistol raised and aimed for the thing's forehead. Just as Japan sunk his sword into the beast's belly, it tried to claw at his back. The claws were mere inches away before Veneziano fired his bullets into the thing's forehead once more. It shrieked and keeled over, its body fading.

All three nations turned in shock to Veneziano, who merely sighed in relief and pocketed his gun. Japan didn't question the dark look he'd seen in his friend's eyes.

He didn't even want to know.

* * *

**Buuuuuhhhh, this chapter's shorter than I intended, gomen uwu;;;; If I can, I'll post chapter four next Friday. I'm glad you guys like the story so far! :D Anyways, next chapter we get some more views from other characters. See y'all next week! And don't forget to review~**


	4. Nighttime Excursions

The trio stared in shock at Veneziano, and it seemed to make his cool facade falter. "V-ve, sorry. I... I guess I didn't really think." he muttered, staring down at his pistol with a thoughtful frown.

Japan shook his head, somewhat warily, but brushed those feelings aside. Of course, he'd have some way to defend himself. As Japan sheathed his sword, he gave his friend a side-long glance. "Ita-kun, where did you get the pistol?" he inquired.

"Huh? Oh, ah... _fratello_ gave it to me." he said softly, eyebrows knitted together as if he were trying to solve some sort of complicated puzzle with the gun. But Japan could also see sadness in the other's eyes, and decided it would be wisest to change the subject. Well, before he could, Prussia broke in.

"What the hell, Japan?!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. "You totally ignored what I said!"

The Asian bit his lip and shrugged. "Yes, I suppose so."

"But you could've been killed," Germany added, frowning in concern as he checked over both his friends for any serious injuries.

Veneziano stared at him blankly. "You could've been killed too, Germany." The fact that Veneziano had something like that about _Germany, _and so blantantly at that, was making his suspiscion begin to rise again. But his face fell soon after, and Japan was relived again. "And I couldn't just... let it..."

Germany sighed, placing a reassuring hand on Veneziano's shoulder. "Alright. You two did have your reasons. And you're both safe, so... that's all I can ask for." Japan blinked a few times, trying to fully process what Germany had said.

"Hey, what about me, West?" Prussia cried dramatically, throwing himself at his brother's feet and hugging his ankles tightly. "Weren't you worried about meeeeeeeeee?"

"U-ugh... fine, yes! N-now let go of me!" Germany stuttered. Japan and Veneziano giggled, helping to break the two brothers apart. The younger sighwed and shok his head. "I suppose we should find a room to stay in for the night. It's gettin dark, and I think wer're all quite tired."

They nodded in agreement. Japan went through his mental map of the mansion, trying to figure out just where they ould sleep safely, soundly. Suddenly, Veneziano slammed his fist into his open hand triumphantly. "Aha! I remember now!" He fished through his pockets and pulled out a silver key. The end of it was charred, and marked 'Fireplace Room'.

Germany's eyes widened as he examined the key. "Italy, where... where did you find this?"

"Oh, I found it when I was running away!" he grinned. "I think the monster dropped it or something?"

The blond nodded absently. "Alright, then. Japan, I want you and Prussia to go back to the room on the second floor. Italy and I shall go and see if we can find medical supplies or food anywhere."

Japan nodded as the four began to walk out of the room and down the stairs. "Alright... Just be careful, you two."

Veneziano flashed him a goofy grin and saluted him. "Yes, sir!"

**.~*~.**

"So, why do you think that West wanted to go off on his own with Ita?" Prussia asked, sitting himself in one of the chairs besides the desk in the corner of the room.

Japan shrugged as he took the other chair. "It's not safe to travel alone. Then again, I suppose he could have wanted Ita-kun's company." He hummed under his breath in thought.

Prussia snickered, giving his friend a feral grin. "Y'know, the mansion's a pretty big place. Even with those monsters around, I'm sure West could find a good place for them to have a nice rom-"

Japan coughed loudly and gave the albino a proper bonk on the head, trying not to let such images invade his mind. "I would think not, Prussia-kun. Your brother is, uh, smarter than that."

He chuckled, ruffling the other's hair. "Don't worry, I was only kidding."

He eyed the other warily, but eventually, decided to let the subject drop, sighing. "I would hope so." he mutttered, thoughts drifting back to Veneziano, and his odd behavior.

Well, then again, seeing Germany scared like a little girl who watched Ao Oni was probably weirder than Veneziano acting calm. Japan was brought from his thoughts when Prussia spoke up. "Do you think there's a way to get out of here?" His tone wasn't full of his usual jovial. Now, it was concerned, and worried. But who wouldn't be?

Japan, picking his words carefully, reached out to lay a hand on Prussia's shoulder. "I'm sure we'll be out of here in no time." The albino nodded, giving him a small, grateful smile, though Japan couldn't even convince himself with his own words.

**.~*~.**

Germany was worried.

Really, he was really worried.

Okay, pretty much anyone would be worried in the kind of situation he was in. Stuck in a mansion with a blood-thirsty monster, having limited to no supplies, and worst of all, it seemed that there were going to be puzzles to solve if they wanted to escape.

Where else would all that paper in Japan's backpack be coming from? Anyways... Aside from the paper and the keys and the creepy monster, what stuck out to him most was Veneziano's behavior. He knew for sure that something was bugging him. Even if he was acting so happy, there had to be something deeper behind it.

Germany had first seen it when the monster showed up in the hallway.

While he and Prussia had stood frozen in place, the monster lunged for Veneziano. Germany caught a glimpse, and saw the most unimaginable fury in those deep amber orbs. It almost seemed they should've been darker from such a glare, a color like-

"Germany~?" A chipper voice broke the blond from his thoughts.

"Huh?" he blinked a few times.

Veneziano pouted. "You were ignoring me! I told you, I found a first-aid kit!" He thrust the white box out happily to his friend.

"Hm? Ah, thank you, Italy," he muttered, rummaging through the box. Inside were the basics to tend wounds: gauze, bandages, some alcohol disinfectant, a needle and thread for stitches, and other miscellaneous items. "This should be enough to help take care of our injuries," he noted. "Good work, _mein Freund_." He ruffled the red-head's hair, causing the other to blush lightly. Germany assumed it was embarrassment.

"N-no problem!" he stuttered, taking a step away from the blond.

Germany raised an eyebrow. Veneziano was usually open to any kinds of affection that he could get, especially from someone as,well, stiff and socially awkward, as Germany. Not that he'd admit it.

"Are you alright?" he raised a brow in concern, and Veneziano flashed him a thumbs-up.

"_S-si_! Yup!" He stuttered out quickly, his voice coming out a higher octave than normal. Kind of like... well, it didn't matter.

"Alright, if you're sure..." he said. "Let's go, then."

**.~*~.**

After regrouping and locating the fireplace room, they four nations locked the door and set up camp. Germany managed to make a few makeshift beds out of some sheets and pillows he found lying around in other rooms. Veneziano was tending to everyone's wounds, while Prussia and Japan were quietly mapping out a map of the mansion.

Veneziano frowned, staring at a cut above Germany's knee. It oozed red, seeping through his uniform. "Ve, you're bleeding." he sighed. "I don't think just bandaging it is going to help."

"Well, we don't have any water to clean it with. I don't think we should trust any food resources we find in the mansion. But it could get in fected too." germany stared at his leg and sighed at the dilemma.

Japan, who was half-listening, frowned. "Ita-kun, can't you just heal it? Like with my shoulder?"

They all turned to him expectantly. His face clouded in thought for a few moments before brightening. "Oh, right!" He placed his hand over the cut, causing Germany to wince, but he soon relaxed as a warm light enveloped the wound. The soft glow sucked away the pain and any traces that the cut may have left.

The German brothers gaped in amazement, and Japan, though having seen Veneziano's healing powers once before, couldn't help but be impressed. "Ita, that was so cool!" Prussia exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Th-thanks," he mumbled, once again embarrassed by the praise. Germany was a bit confused by this, since Veneziano wasn't usually so bashful when it came to praise. But he shrugged it off.

"Well, Japan called a few minutes later, "We have mapped out the areas we've visited so far." He waved the piece of paper above his head before sighing. "The door is locked, and the windows have bars on them. And I don't think that simply cutting it while work."

"Well, why not?" Prussia demanded. "We were prisoners of war before, weren't we? If we can't find an exit, we'll have to make one!"

He smiled a bit at the albino's enthusiasim and sighed. "That's true. And if we can't, then... getting a way out of here tomorrow will be our first priority."

Veneziano nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I can't eat pasta or pizza like this..." he whined softly. "And my watch broke when I wasn't looking!"

Japan blinked a few times n surprise, and stared down at his own watch. "It would appear so," he said, "And I don't think our cellphones would work here either?"

Veneziano shook his head. "Nope, I tried that earlier, and I couldn't get a hold of anyone."

Germany crossed his arms. "So we're stuck here, with no way of getting out, and no means to contact anyone." A heavy silence fell over them.

Veneziano's hopeful voice shattered the quiet. "But... at least we're stuck here together."

The three turned to him, confused. "W-well, think about it! It's good that we're together, because we're all friends and we can work together well and stuff. And if we were going along with someone like... say, england or france, we'd never be able to cooperate like this." His face fell at the statement but he quickly grinned again. "We're pretty lucky, if you really consider it."

Prussia nodded thoughtfully. "Y'know, I haven't thought of it like that... I guess you're right." he chuckled.

Japan and Germany also nodded in agreement, and the Italian giggled. "There! Now we can sleep!"

"Wait a moment, Ita-kun," Japan instructed. "We should have someone keep watch, just in case. We can play a fair game of _Jan, Ken, Pon_."

Prussia groaned. "Fine, just hurry up! I want to get some sleep!"

**.~*~. **

Veneziano was seated at the table in the middle of the room, rifling through the papers in Japan's backpack and occasionally glancing at his sleeping companions in case they would wake up again.

He sighed, arranging the backpack how it was before, but throwing the papers into the fireplace. They were set ablaze, and he felt relief wash over him. He just kept the papers to unlock their abilities. There was enough he couldn't remember already.

He glanced at his friends, his head falling onto the table with a thump of guilt. He felt so terrible for leading them on like this, but it was the only way. He vaguely wondered when the others would show up, and he was startint to become afraid. Not only of having to fool the others, but this loop itself. It was so much like last time, when... when...

He didn't want to think about that. All he had to do was stay positive, and... and he'd be fine. Yes. Besides, the others were safe, and... _he _was safe too. That's what was most important, that _he _was safe. Even if no one but him knew that.

Veneziano sighed angrily, briefly lifting his head to glance at his sleeping friends. At least they seemed to get a good sleep. He was glad that he lost anyways; he couldn't sleep. Sleep was not allowed. Still, in spite of himself, he smiled softly, almost wishing that he could join the three of them. Just to curl up under a blanket and fall asleep.

He quickly snapped out his thoughts when he caught his head falling on the table. No, he couldn't sleep. He was managing as best he could, and he didn't need rest to screw up what little he could hang onto in his mind. He froze when he heard several knocks on the door. He relaxed soon after, remembering it was probably France. But then that meant... the monster would be here too. Not yet, but soon.

He took Japan's clothes out of the pack and laid it next to him. He also placed a few granola bars on top of it. They would probably get hungry, and he wasn't sure if the saferoom was finished yet. It should have been. Oh well, he'd figure that out later.

Slinging the backpack over his shoulder as the knocks became louder, he sighed softly, taking one last glance at his friends before going out the door.

France stopped pounding as soon as the door opened, sighing in relief when Veneziano walked out. Feigining surprise, he asked, "Wh-what were you doing?!"

The blond laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, I was walking around and I thought I heard something and decided it might be good to take refuge in this room, and then I sort of panicked..." he sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry for scaring you, Italy."

Veneziano grinned, his surprise fading. "V-ve, that's alright. I'm just glad you're okay!" He paused and frowned. "but why are you here so late? I doubt you'd wanna go to a haunted house at night..."

France raised an eyebrow. "At night? No, we just got here, and it's the afternoon. Or at least, it should be..." he frowned, glancing down at his watch. "I think my watch is broken."

The Italian hummed under his breath in thought, biting his lip. "So did mine. And Germany's and Japan's, and Prussia's..."

France blinked. "Oh, the others are with you?"

Veneziano nodded. "Yup! But they're sleeping! I was supposed to take the first watch."

The blond chuckled, ruffling his hair. "Well, that was very nice of you."

"It was only because lost at _la morra_." he said softly, trying not to let a smile wriggle onto his face at the praise. "Did anyone else come with you?"

He nodded. "Oh, yes. I was exploring the upstairs floor with china. We came back down here to get _Angleterre_, but I seem to have lost track of them. Hmm..." he swept his eyes across the empty hall. "I could've sworn they were just here, though."

"Do you want me to help you go look for them?" Veneziano asked. "I'm not sure if you should go by yourself."

France shrugged. "Well, if you want to. But-" France was cut off by a loudgrowl sounding dangerously close to the two of them. They turned their heads, and saw the monster standing right across from them. "... W-what the hell is that thing...?" he asked, voice a pitiful squeak.

"That's the monster we've been fighting all day." he whispered in reply, taking a nervous step back. He glanced at the door where his friends were sleeping peacefully. If he hadn't lost in _la morra _then he'd be able to wake up his friends when the monster was there. But now, there was no guarantee they'd wake up. But if he left France, then he would also...

"W-we have to get it away from the others!" Veneziano exclaimed. "Otherwise it... it'll kill them in their sleep!"

France was taken aback by the other's outburst, and especially by how determined he seemed, but he brushed it off, knowing just how important Veneziano's friends were to him. And he had to admit that he wasn't too keen on the idea of Prussia dying... Or Germany or Japan for that matter. So he merely nodded, drawing his sword. "Right. Let's get it downstairs. If it chases us long enough, it should get tired,' He laughed lightly in amusement. "And besides, you're pretty fast on your feet."

Veneziano twirled his pistol with a small smile in agreement. "Ve, that's right. I'll draw it away, then you follow. Okay?"

France nodded. "Alright. On three."

"One..."

"Two..."

"Three!"

* * *

**And there is chapter four! :D Sorry I wasn't able to post this sooner, I didn't have time ^^;;; Also, next chapter will be longer uwu Anyways, hope you all enjoyed it! New chapter should be up next Sunday, if not sooner. Don't forget to review~**


	5. Vanishing Into Thin Air

If there was one thing England knew for certain, it was that America was an idiot. He was a complete and total idiot. And England was probably even more of an idiot for actually going along with his silly little idea of going to some dumb haunted mansion in the first place. Well, it wasn't as if he'd had anything better to do in the first place.

But still, he was beginning to think it wasn't such a good idea for him to have come along. As soon they had pushed open the gate that lead to the clearing of the mansion, his stomach churned, and he thought he was going to be sick. He could feel the twisted magic in the atmosphere swirling around, nearly choking him. But after a few moments, the potency began to die down, though he still couldn't shake his uneasiness.

America's annoying voice brought him from his thoughts. "Haha, it's here! I told you guys!"

England scoffed and rolled his eyes, straightening his tie absently as he tried to regain his composure. "Yes, yes. Though I thought it was just a rumor. I didn't actually expect for it to be here..."

France nodded in agreement, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "It has a rather desolate feel. A nice touch, don't you think?" he asked of no one in particular.

"I don't think it's very interesting though." A voice from behind him piped up. Interesting was one perspective, though. The strange feeling he was getting was at the least, very interesting.

America blinked, looking around. "Was that a voice just now?"

Russia laughed happily. "Oh America, you tease~ We didn't hear anything, did we?" The voice sighed, and England could've sworn he heard something cry "Feed me!".

America crossed his arms and let out a strange sound. Nervous, maybe? "It doesn't look like a very fun place, though."

"America, it was your idea to come here in the first place!" Canada whispered, stomping over to him. "We walked here for three hours; don't tell me you wanna go back."

The blond laughed. "Hey, bro! When'd you get here?"

"Canada is right," Russia piped up, sending a cool glare America's way. "After all that trouble you put us through, we should at least go inside, right?"

America forced a smile to the Russian. "Sure, man! I guess you're right for once!"

The two laughed towards each other for a moment before China broke in. "Let's go inside then,. I don't want to spend more time with you all than I have to." With that, he opened the door, and the Allies entered the mansion.

**.~*~. **

After a few minutes of pointless bickering (which seemed like hours to England; he had enough of a headache already without those idiots shouting!), they split into two groups. France, China, and England would explore upstairs while America, Canada, and Russia would explore the ground floor.

However, as they moved upstairs, England only felt the feeling get worse. It was almost as if he was being crushed by some kind of... energy... Magic, maybe? No, this was just some onl abandoned mansions. Maybe there were spirits who still resided here and they were restless.

But still, he would have been able to sense them if that were true. He couldn't See anything here. Well, he could see, but he couldn't _See_. There were no creatures running around, no fairies or sprites or gnomes... Nothing. Just complete and total emptiness.

And he would never admit it, but it _scared _him.

The trio stood in the far hallway of the second floor. France frowned, crossing his arms as he swept his eyes across the area. "This place is rather clean for being abandoned."

England nodded absently in reply, swallowing heavily. The thick churning of the air was making him sick. "Y-yeah, but um, can we go now?"

France chuckled, giving the Brit a playful poke in the shoulder. "What's wrong, England? Are you scared~?"

"Of course not, y-you idiot!" He snapped, shoving the blond away from him, crossing his arms with an indignant huff. "It's just that this place is-"

"This is just silly," China drawled, looking up from where he was toying with the keychains on his phone. "There aren't any ghosts here. You _can _go back if you want." He raised an eyebrow pointedly.

'_Yes, there are no ghosts here and that's the problem you idiot!' _He thought angrily as China wandered down to a door on his left.

"Hey, are you going to go off on your own?" France asked.

"I'm just going to peek into this room," the brunette assured him, wrinkling his nose in disgust. "It smells kinda bad."

England felt his panic escalated quickly and he reached out a hand to stop the other. "W-wait, isn't that a little bit risky?" China ignored him and reached for the doorknob. "Wait!"

China jiggled the doorknob a few times, frowning. "... Huh. It won't open. Oh well," he muttered with a shrug, glancing at England rather warily from his behavior. France also gave him a look of concern, but England shrugged it off, submersing into his thoughts.

'_What the hell is going on here? The air is so full of tension, there are weird smells, and I can't See anything! We're in danger. All of us. God... we need to get out of here soon... __  
_

"You've been really quiet, England. Are you alright?" England was snapped out of his thoughts by France's voice, and a hand on his shoulder. The Frenchman was eyeing him curiously.

He brushed the other's hand off, muttering, "Don't touch me."

"What's wrong?" he asked. "This place is bugging you, isn't it?"

After a few moments silent, he finally spoke, keeping his gaze on the floor. "No. There is nothing - and no one. At all." His voice had a hard edge to it. Trying to explain what about this place was bothering him made him unusually nervous and angry.

"But Russia and the others are on the first floor," China pointed out.

"I know that," England snapped, followed by a sigh. "When I said that there's no one here at all, I meant..." He faltered for a moment before continuing. "It feels... as tough everything has been consumed... The air is so thick..." he shook his head and murmured, "It feels evil here."

"You mean you can't see the usual illusions?" France raised an eyebrow, and England nodded. "If even those illusions aren't here, maybe we really should keep out."

"I agree," China said, turning to England. "Then I'm going to go look upstairs. What are you going to do, Opium?"

He rolled his eyes at the nickname, but walked over to the Chinese nation. "I really don't want to stay on this floor, so I guess I'll come with you."

"What, you're just going to leave me?" France put a hand to his forehead dramatically before laughing a little at England's annoyed expression. "When you two are done, we'll meet up here again."

"Alright then, you've got the second floor." China nodded.

"Thirty minutes shoulder be enough," England said, already starting up the stairs. "Don't fall asleep on us France." he snorted.

The Frenchman gave him a wink. "You can trust me~" he chuckled, walking away from the staircase.

China frowned. "Aren't you going to start in that room over there?" he asked, pointing his sleeve towards the bad-smelling room.

"Hm? That room is bad news, though, isn't it? I'll leave it for later." he replied airily, rounding the corner.

England stared after him for a moment, strangely worried about the other's safety. He sighed to himself and turned to China. "Come on, let's go. The sooner we do this, the sooner we can leave." He scoffed. "And if we make America wait, he won't shut up about it."

However, China sighed, crossing his arms. He could easily tell England was worried; maybe even a little scared. "You really hate it here, don't you." It was more of a statement than a question.

The Englishman paused in his tracks, staring down at the ground, before letting out a bitter chuckle. "I never thought I'd envy people who can't See so badly..." he muttered.

However, China hadn't even waited for him to answer. He was already a few feet ahead of England, and turned back when he heard him mutter. "What was that? I didn't hear you."

The blond shook his head and sighed softly, hurrying to catch up with him. "Nothing. Nothing at all..."

**.~*~. **

England found himself frowning again as he examined his surroundings the higher they ascended in the mansion. Why on earth was this place so clean? It was supposed to be abandoned, right? And ghosts weren't exactly the best housekeepers.

"This is so weird..." he muttered to himself, following China into a large white room, lined with bookcases. Something about the room gave him a strange chill. A little different from the mansion's evil; no, it was... familiar. Magic, maybe... But he couldn't be sure.

"There are so many books here..." China muttered, resting a hand against one of the bookshelves.

England nodded, letting out a small chuckle. "Japan would feel more at home here,"

"I wish I was with Japan instead of you." China said dryly, sighing.

The Englishman scowled, "Even I would prefer Japan over you," he retorted. "By the way, has he replied yet?"

"Replied...?" China raised an eyebrow before nodding in realization. "Nope, I don't think so. Last time I checked, I was out of range." He took out his cellphone briefly before nodding again. "Yep, out of range."

England took out his own cellphone to check the connection, but he too, got no signal. "Hmph... me too. Maybe there's bad reception." He said. Great, now they couldn't contact anyone if they got stuck here... That was a big problem. "If Japan also wants to come here, that would be problematic. We should leave."

China shook his head. "I don't think he wants to come, though. The last text I sent, he replied only once: 'Be careful'. That was basically his own way to end the conversation." They left through the other door at the opposite end of the room and were met with another set of stairs. The Chinese nation heaved a sigh. "We'll leave _after_ checking this floor."

England suppressed a snort and simply nodded, following him up the stairs into the only room there. There wasn't much in this last room. He looked behind a curtain on the wall, but there was nothing there. And no interesting books either, though he could have sworn he heard some weird noises coming from behind the bookshelf. There was also a creepy-looking chair that seemed familiar.

"I remember seeing a cursed chair like this before somewhere," China remarked with an almost whistful tone to his voice.

England rolled his eyes. "Hmph. We've checked out all the floors, and it seems to be a 'normal' house..."

China nodded. "I still have that bad feeling..." He trailed off. "Let's go find France and go home!" he said rather quickly, and England, for once, whole-heartedly agreed with that decision.

"Alright then, let's-" The Englishman started towards the door, only to freeze when he heard the sound of gunshots. Multiple shots were fired, and it was followed by a heavy silence. "That..." He stared wide-eyed at the floor below him. It had come from the first floor, and it was definitely America's pistol. Six shots...

"That was America's pistol," China said slowly, "He... fired a lot."

England swallowed hard, his voice beginning to crack as he spoke. "That means... something must have happened, right?" Oh God, what if America was hurt, or if he was injured, or even Canada- He took a deep breath, silently reminding himself to calm down. He'd raised them after all, they knew how to take care of themselves...

"In this place?" China shook his head. Didn't he get a bad feeling too, though? Wouldn't he be at least a bit suspicious? "Don't you think that he just fell for Russia's provocation?"

England had to admit, that idea... it _did _make sense; even if this place gave him a bad feeling, it didn't mean something bad would happen, right...? No, there was definitely something weird going shook his head and sighed. "No... This is a bit different than messing around. We should go meet up with Fra-"

China shook his head and sighed. "No... This is a bit different from messing around. We should go meet up with France and see what happened." And with that, he opened the door and started down to the second floor.

England sighed in annoyance, though China seemed to have completely ignored his own contradiction. That, and how he took the damn words right out of England's mouth. What an annoying bastard. "If you _insist_!"

They walked in silence down to the second floor. But when they'd arrived, France was gone.

**.~*~.**

"Fifteen minutes..." England muttered to himself as he swept his eyes across the empty hall. Still, there was no sign of France.

"What's the meaning of this?" China huffed, crossing his arms. "It shouldn't take this long to check the second floor!"

"Maybe he got tired of waiting, and went downstairs," england suggested.

"Well, he does get bored easily." The brunette admitted with a shrug. "I'll check the rooms on this floor and see if he's here at all. You wait here!"

"W-wait!" England called before the other could go off. "Shouldn't we both look? It'll save time."

He frowned lightly before sighing and nodding his head. "alright, fine. But let's do this quick!"

England ventured towards one of the doors parallel to the floor that China was checking out, the one with the bad smell. Meanwhile, England found himself in a stark-white piano room. He slowly walked towards the piano, a strange buzzing in his ears as he did. There were different colored numbers on it, but he had no clue what any of it meant.

His thoughts were interrupted by a quiet voice beside him. "_... kay..._"

_"...not! It's not, Japan!"_

England spun on his heel, and to his left, Japan lay against the piano, clothes soaked in blood, and his body covered in scars. "J-JAPAN!" He exclaimed, rushing to his side. "J... Japan, are you okay?!" There was no response from him, however. It was like,,, he didn't know England was there... He strained the hear what he was saying; for some reason, the voices were garbled, and full of static between words. And England couldn't recognize the second voice even though it was so familiar.

"_I'll be fine... promise. You go catch up with the others._"

"_N-no! I-I'll... bandages!_"

"_... lost that a long time ago..._" Japan smiled sadly. "_And... not..._"

A sad laugh from the other voice. "_Y-you... _"

"_... es... el..._"

Japan's body and the voices faded without a trace. England just sat there in silence for what seemed like forever, eyes wide with fear. '_What the hell... Japan was.. and who was that other voice...?' _He swallowed unsteadily, leaning against the piano bench for support as he tried to regain his breath.

He let out a startled gasp when the door behind him slammed open. "OPIUM! We have to go, now!" China cried frantically.

England jumped to his feet and rushed over. "Wh-why, what's wrong?"

China panted heavily, looking like he might cry, when he held up what looked like burnt, blood-soaked clothing.

_Japan's_ burnt, blood-covered clothing.

**.~*~.**

America laughed nervously as his cellmates sent murderous glares his way (well, Veneziano was kind of pouting. He didn't really glare that much). "Great job," France grumbled, kicking at the metal bars that confined the three of them. "Now there's no way for us to get out!"

America laughed loudly. "Don't worry guys, I'll find a way to get you all out! After all, I'm the hero!"

"America, that doesn't matter now!" Veneziano snapped. "If you weren't such an idiot and attracted attention to yourself, we wouldn't be in this mess, and we'd know if Germany and the others are okay!" He crossed his arms and in a few short strides, was glaring America straight in the face and pointing an accusing finger at his chest. "You. Hamburger. Scarfing. Idiot!"

The two blonds stared in shock at the small Italian, who instantly regretted it when he saw the American's face fall. "O-oh. I guess you're right. I wasn't thinking..." he muttered. America blinked in surprise when Veneziano quickly trapped him in an apologetic hug.

"V-ve, I'm sorry for yelling at you like that! B-but I'm just worried. I mean, Germany, a-and Japan and Prussia... Th-the monster could really kill them. This place is just weird, a-and I wanna go home." he sniffled lightly, and mumbled under his breath, "A-and I wanna see _fratello_."

America smiled softly and patted the other's head. "Don't worry, we'll get out of this. Really, we will. The others are bound to come here eventually, if I don't break us out first." He was still a little weirded out by Veneziano's sudden change of behavior, but Canada yelled at him like that all the time! He was kind of used to it.

France, however, was still a little unsettled by the outburst. But he decided to let it go for now, and not dwell on it.

America pushed Veneziano away after a few moments and frowned. "Your leg is bleeding," he pointed out.

Veneziano blinked a few times and glanced down at his injured leg. "H-huh? Oh... I guess I hurt it when I run away..." he tried to take a step, and winced when he did. "I think I'll be fine, if I sit down for a bit."

He walked over to the wall and sat down on the floor, laying his leg out. America sat in front of him with a frown. "We need to get this bandaged," he said. "Do you have anything in your backpack?"

Veneziano slid it off his shoulders and rummaged through it for a moment before tossing him the first-aid kit. In hindsight, he should have left it with Japan and the others, but he was in a bit of a rush earlier. America gently took off Veneziano's boot and lifted his leg, rolling up the pant leg to gain better access to the wound. "Eesh..." he grimaced. He'd gotten used to treating wounds during the war, so he was accustomed to blood and all sorts of injuries. But it was a little different seeing a wound on someone he knew.

He took some of the disinfectant and gave Veneziano an apologetic smile. "This may hurt a bit," Veneziano simply nodded, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth. America was able to clean the wound with almost no problem. And while the Italian knew he could heal the wound fairly easy, he didn't really want to heal his own wounds. No, he'd deal with them himself. It was one of the rules.

France sat down next to them after a while, and silently observed the two. During the process, Veneziano barely made any noise. There were a few grunts of pain from the alcohol stinging his wounds, but other than that, nothing.

"There we go!" America grinned and tied off the bandage. "As long as you don't put too much strain on it, then there shouldn't be any problem. It'll heal in no time!"

Veneziano gave a small clap of delight and grinned. "_Grazie_, America!" he beamed.

The blond flashed him a toothy grin. "Hey, no problem! Anything for a friend, right?" That simply made Veneziano's smile wider, and he nodded in agreement. France smiled lightly and chuckled to himself. Well, at least they were getting along.

"Oh, if you guys are hungry, I have some food." he rummaged through the bag and laughed a little, amending his sentence. "Well, it's Japan's food, but he packed a lot."

"Oh, great!" America beamed, moving to lean over the Italian's shoulder. "I'm starving!"

"You're always starving, _mon cher_."

"Hahaha! N-no..."

"Ve... You do tend to eat a lot~"

"... You guys are insensitive jerks..."

* * *

**:D And here is chapter 5~ We get some more P.O.V. variation, this time from England! Man, he is so fun to write uwu Also, forgive Ita-kun's behavior, he gets frustrated sometimes /)w(\ Can anyone guess who that other voice was? And what he and Japan were talking about? ouo Tune in for the next chapter, and don't forget to review~**


	6. A Short Reunion

England rushed over to the panic-stricken China and stared down at the scraps of burned clothing he was cradling. "I-it's... Japan's clothes..." He finally choked out, his knuckles white from how tightly he was gripping the clothes.

"W-wait a minute..." England started, "Wh-why would Japan here? We barely arrived an hour ago ourselves... there's no way he could've gotten here before then!"

"But these are his clothes! Look, it's what he was wearing today at the world meeting! A-and..." China held out a charred sleeve that had faint traces of red on it. "There's blood on here!"

"But... but..." England wracked his brain for an answer. "He replied to your last text only once, right?"

"Y-yeah? So?"

"But he was at the meeting place when that happened!" the blond cried, seriously considering slapping China to knock some sense into him. "So there's no way he could have gotten here before then..."

The worry began to leave China's face, but only for a moment. "Th-then how do you explain his clothes? A-and... France is still missing! And the gunshots! This place is too weird..." he shook his head. "We have to find the others and get out of here, now."

England nodded quickly in agreement. "I agree. Let's go and see if they're on the ground floor. It's the only place left to look..."

The two nations started down the staircase that led to the foyer of the mansion, but it was empty. England glanced around in worry and started down the hallway to his left. There were two doors; one on the left side of that hall (which was of course, locked), and another at the end.

He slowly grasped the handle of the door, feeling a chill run through him as he did. Without another word, he pushed open the door and rushed inside.

**.~*~.**

When Russia had first agreed to come to the mansion, there was a list of things he expected to happen, an a lit of things he expected not to happen.

Firstly, he didn't expect for America to not get them lost. And he didn't expect to find the mansion. He especially didn't expect the strange aura from the house that made his skin crawl.

But he did expect it to be fun, and it definitely was. At least, until that monster showed up and knocked him out.

When he woke up, he was laying beside Canada. The hallway was empty, with no sign of that loud-mouth American or gray, familiar-looking monster.

The duo though it would be of best interest to go fin their friends and leave the mansion. But of course, he should\ve stopped expecting things to go the way he wanted as soon as he aw the monster.

It showed up again before they could get up the stairs. Canada was already injured, and couldn't really fight. So he took the other's hand and ran inside a room further down the hall.

He kept Canada closed behind him as he silently glared at the monster, ignoring Canada's quiet requests for him to help Russia fight.

After the monster dealt a few blows, which were mostly deflected with the help of his trusty pipe, the door was suddenly slammed open.

England and China stumbled inside (he mentally breathed a sigh of relief, glad that they were both unharmed for the most part), the latter carrying what looked like burned clothing.

"Wh-what the hell?!" England cried, referring to the monster. He could eel a menacing aura emanating from it, and he guessed that it was definitely part of the reason that this place made him feel so uneasy.

"What is that thing!" China exclaimed.

"Ah, you two are finally here." Russia sent the a small smile. "You are a bit late, though." he frowned thoughtfully.

Canada spoke up from where he was hidden behind Russia. "Y-you two should go," he advised quietly.

"There is no need to worry." Russia assured im. "I can take care of this." He let out an annoyed growl when the monster charged, and he barely managed to block the claws with his pipe.

"R-Russia-!" Canada started, reaching out to him in worry. He quickly retracted his hand when the monster gave a loud shriek and recoiled from Russia's attack. The top of his pipe had fallen to the ground, revealing a sword from the opening.

"W-wait, when did you..." China started.

Russia smiled at the other. "Ah, Japan made my pipe into a sword cane a while ago. Very effective~!" He demonstrated his statement with another series of vicious slashes at the monster.

Canada frowned, the monster unscathed. "It didn't have any effect..."

England chuckled and rolled up his sleeves, removing a book from his jacket. "Don't worry Canada, I'll take care of this." He flipped through the book until he landed on a certain page. "_Expecto Patronem!_" He cried, extending his hand dramatically towards the monster. A few blue sparks shot from his hand, fading as they hit the floor. "Wha... uh..." He laughed nervously as the other three shot him a glare. "I can fix this!" He flipped to another random page and yelled, "_Sectumsempra!_" Again, only a few sparks emitted from his hand before pitifully falling to the floor.

"England, why aren't you being of any help?!" China snapped.

"Ehe... sorry..." He grimaced. "This place seems to be blocking my magic..." He shrugged in apology. China groaned in frustration. The monster growled angrily and began to stomp towards them, teeth bared. England gasped, taking a step back. W-wait, uh-"

And then, like a blinding light from heaven, a familiar blur dropped from the ceiling and sunk its sword into the monster's head. The figure jumped down and landed in front of England and China. "I won't allow you to harm my friends." Japan said coolly, brown eyes dark and full of fury.

* * *

**Yeah. this chapter's really short. I just wanted to get it up before I forgot... /sadsigh I'm so sorry, but I've been lacking motivation and school has been interfering with shit and I've also been kinda depressed lately. Sorry... I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can, within the next two weeks tops. The next chapter will be much longer to make up for this. Thanks for being patient with me. :) Drop a review?**


	7. Overwhelming Mysteries

England was the first to break the long silence after Japan's sudden arrival. "J-Japan, you're okay! You're... okay..." he trailed off with a frown, that horrid vision from the piano room suddenly coming back to him. "Huh... wait, what are you even doing here?"

"That's what I'd like to know!" China broke in, a confused and worried expression on his face. Even though he looked alright, there were bandages covering his shoulder and multiple small cuts on his clothes.

Japan seemingly ignored their questions. "You're not that hurt now, are you?" A mutual shaking of heads. They looked a little scratched up, but for the most part, they were fine. "Right," he nodded, "Excuse me, then, while I deal with this thing then."

"A-are you sure that's a good idea?" Canada asked. "It's awfully strong..."

"We could help you." Russia suggested carefully.

Japan shook his head and smiled reassuringly. "There's no need for that." He frowned and stared over at Russia and Canada, and then back at China and England. "It really did a number on you, didn't it? Allow me to pay it back for its hospitality, then."

He glared towards the monster, brandishing his sword. The monster seemed to glare right back, black eyes narrowing angrily. It let out a throaty growl before it lunged towards the island nation. Japan quickly leapt several feet into the air and landed on top of the thing's head. He focused all of his anger and concentration towards his sword, and it emitted an eerie, red glow. With a furious cry, he sunk the sword into its forehead. It shrieked, a blinding light emanating from the wound, as if it was being split in half. As the monster began to fade, Japan jumped back down to the ground and sheathed his sword with a satisfied nod.

"Ha, it looks like Canada." Russia commented happily.

Canada rolled his eyes, "Just say it disappeared, will you?"

Japan walked over to England and China. "Are you both unharmed?" he asked.

Y-yeah, we're both fine." he replied quickly, staring at Japan in confusion. Dammit, that vision kept coming back to him and he did not know how to get rid of it. Japan noticed his staring, but decided not to say anything. "How... how did you beat it so quickly? Surely, you haven't fought that thing before..."

He smiled wryly. "Several times to be correct, England. However, you should know; you have fought it before too. After all, you all were the first to arrive..."

"W-what?" China stuttered, "How could you... that's impossible! We've barely even been here an hour, there's no way that you could have gotten here before us! And you weren't even supposed to be here!"

Russia and Canada had walked over by now, and the former nodded, placing a hand on China's shoulder as a sign to calm down. "That's true. China sent Japan a message, and Japan replied to it at the summit. Right?" He looked towards him for confirmation.

Japan nodded, confusion clear on his face. "Yes. That's true, but... After that, Ita-kun said he wanted to go too, so we decided to come with him because...well, we didn't have anything else to do." He frowned and rubbed his head, the memory strangely fuzzy.

"But it takes about three hours to get from the summit to here!" Canada interjected. "And like China said, we haven't even been here an hour..." He frowned. "How is that even possible?"

Silence fell over the room before Japan spoke. "There are... a lot of things we need to talk about. But this isn't the place to do that." He turned towards the door. "Follow me. I know a safe place... we can at least rest there while it _is _safe." he said quietly.

"W-wait a sec, Japan!" China said quickly.

Japan turned to him with a frown. "China-san, there isn't much time to waste. Please-"

"Yeah, yeah, just explain this to me first." He huffed, holding out the remains of Japan's bloody clothes he'd found earlier. The other looked mildly surprised.

"Why do you have my clothes?" He asked, blinking a few times in confusion. "I threw those in the fireplace."

"Yes! I know that, Japan." he scowled. "But I found them because the room had a bad smell and I didn't know what happened to you and I kind of freaked out so can you please explain to me why they were burned and bloody?" he ended his question with a squeak and Japan stifled a laugh.

"China-san, I'm alright. I had some injuries earlier, but I'm fine now. Besides, there's a... more pressing matter at hand." He grimaced and tapped his chin. "We can discuss this later, alright?"

China sighed, and gave a defeated nod. "Fine. Let's go, then."

**.~*~.**

Japan quickly brought Prussia and Germany to the others in the fireplace room and they gathered around the table. "Alright, I shall explain what has been our situation so far." He gestured to Prussia and Germany (who were currently trying to light a fire) before he spoke again.

"Firstly, I received a message from China saying that they had arrived." China nodded in confirmation. "Ita-kun thought it would be a fun idea to go as well, and persuaded us to come with him. But while I went off on my own, the monster attacked Ita-kun, Germany and Prussia..."

Multiple worried glances were sent towards the brothers by the fire and Prussia decided to elborate a bit, "The monster seemed to be targeting Ita for some reason, but he was able to get away." A worried frown creased his face. England took into notice that Veneziano wasn't here right now.

"In the end, we were able to regroup, and found this room. By then, it was night, so-"

"Wait, it was night-" Canada started before quickly feeling embarrassed for interrupting as Japan turned to him curiously. "O-oh, I'm sorry for being rude Japan, please continue."

Prussia spoke up, "Hey Japan, I found a box. Can we burn it?"

Japan nodded, and so did Germany. "We should burn anything that can be used as fuel.

Japan coughed into his hand and nodded again to regain the others' attention, before he continued."We had a sense of security then, because we had the key to it. And maybe that had something to do with it, because we fell into a deep sleep. When we woke up in the morning, Ita-kun... he was gone." Japan's voice grew softer as he went on. "There was a trail of blood leading away from the door, and we followed it, but eventually..."

"The trail ended," Russia finished quietly.

"We looked for him as best we could," Germany said with a worried frown, "but we didn't want to lose anyone else so my Bruder and I decided to stay on standby until Japan came back for us."

"Yes, that's what happened to us." Japan sighed, before frowning as he scrutinized the Allied group. "But I thought for sure that America and France would be here with you." England noticed the annoyed tone when he said America, which was strange; Japan was the epitome of polite who never showed any emotion.

"Well, when we arrived, we all split into two groups," England explained, "France, China, and I went to the second floor, while America, Canada, and Russia stayed on the first floor. France offered to check out the second floor while we did the upstairs floors. When we came back, he was gone."

Japan's face was clouded in thought and after a few moments, he hesitantly spoke up, "I'm not sure I was the only one who noticed it, but... didn't that creature look like one of America's friends...?"

They all nodded in confirmation. "That's right!" China exclaimed. "I noticed it as soon as I laid eyes on it!" He groaned and tapped his chin. "Oh, what was his name..."

"To-Tommy, wasn't it?" Germany wondered aloud, though his voice was uncertain.

"Yes, that's it! They look almost identical!" England said enthusiastically. "Then that means that this was just some prank America tried to pull over us!" He glanced up at the ceiling as if America could hear him and scoffed, "Nice try, fatass. It'll take more than that to feel us."

"You're mistaken."

All eyes turned to Canada with mildly surprised expressions. "What?" England frowned.

"I said you're wrong." Canada repeated bluntly. "That's not Tony."

**.~*~.**

Every nation in the room stared at Canada. "But when we were on the first floor, the thing appeared, and I recognized it almost instantly as America's friend." Russia said with a strange smile.

"Y-yes," Japan stuttered in agreement. "We had decided to conclude it as America's friend, and we felt more at ease in our search... Were we wrong?"

Canada nodded briefly. "I live every close to America, and I've seen Tony several times." He paused, a thoughtful look on his face. "I suppose they look alike, but Tony would never attack America."

China frowned. "Wait, it attacked him? So that's why we heard gunshots..."

Canada nodded. "The monster showed up, and America immediately started firing at it. He was thrown against the wall. I tried to help him fight it, but I was knocked out almost right away. H-he was trying to draw it away from Russia and I... But when we woke up, both America and the creature were gone.." His voice faltered and he turned to Russia and cast him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry for having been such a burden on you, Russia."

Russia smiled and patted the blond's head. "It's no problem! It wasn't a burden at all, trying to protect someone while you fight." Canada was about to apologize again but Russia continued. "Anyways, we wanted to help him, but we didn't know where he was. So we went into the kitchen and ran into the monster again, then you guys showed up. And here we are..." He crossed his arms sternly. "Now that we know this isn't a prank, we have to be extremely careful. There are three people missing, and we should make that our first priority. We need to find them before the monster does."

A heavy silence followed and no one dared to speak. England was really starting to get worried. America and France could probably handle themselves, but then there was Veneziano. Even if he was fast on his feet, that wouldn't be enough against the monster. Not enough at all...

"Hey!" Prussia cried suddenly. He'd been poking at the fire (which was now merely hot coals) with a stick when he noticed a slight gleam beneath the ashes. "I think it's a key!" He exclaimed, slowly reaching a gloved hand in to grab it.

"Careful, it's probably hot." Germany advised.

"No shit," he cackled in return, quickly grabbing the key and tossing it onto the table to avoid getting his glove burned. "Sweet, we got another one!"

Japan examined the charred key with a raised eyebrow. "Hm... Escaping was our first priority, but we should find the others first. With all of us looking, we should be able to find them easily." The others nodded in agreement. "We should split into groups. at least two people in each group."

"That's a good idea," Prussia noted. "There are a lot of rooms that are locked or we haven't explored yet.

Japan nodded, glancing down at his watch with a frown. "Now... about our watch-"

There was a violent bang at the door and they all jumped out of the chairs, startled. England glanced at the door, which was shaking violently. '_Oh shit, that thing's trying to break in!' _he thought, sweat beading down his brow. He noticed Japan, who, even with his injured shoulder, managed to stand and draw his sword. "So it found us after all. This room is no longer safe."

"Was it ever off-limits?" England asked with a humorless laugh, which quickly died after the door shook even harder. 'Shit, what are we going to do?!"

Prussia glanced worriedly at Japan, who merely nodded. "We need to split up now. I'll distract it. Germany, Prussia, you both go and search for the room that can be opened by the key." Neither of them argued, knowing it would pointless. So the older of the two picked up the key and pocketed it, getting ready to run.

"Japan, I'll fight with you!" China offered quickly, rushing to his side and drawing the sword form his belt.

"I'll help too." Russia offered, unsheathing the sword from his cane. "I still have to pay that thing back for earlier."

England gently grabbed Canada's arm and pulled him to his side, "There is a room I want to investigate again, so I'll take Canada there with me. It has the piano in it. you should all know where it is, so meet up there when you're done."

Japan nodded, and just as he opened his mouth to speak, the door was violently thrown open. The monster growled and somehow managed to fit its bulky self through the doorway, starting towards Japan. "Alright, everyone... be careful! And good luck!" He charged towards the monster with a furious cry and slashed his sword down.

Everyone else ran.

**.~*~.**

As England guided Canada to the third floor, he was curious as to why the blond insisted for them to stay so close. He either had a hand pulling Canada's arm along with him, or holding his hand. "Um, England? I can walk, you know." he said with a small smile as they entered the piano room.

The blond rolled his eyes, a light blush decorating his cheeks. "I know that. I just..." he sighed. "I don't want you getting hurt. America's already missing, and I don't want to lose track of you either..."

The Canadian nation blinked in surprise, followed by a short laugh, his cheeks lightly dusted with pink. "I'm glad you're worried about me, England. But I'll be fine. Besides, Kumacheckers is going to help protect me too." He smiled down at his polar bear, stroking the top of his head, earning a cry of, "Feed me!"

England allowed a small smile in return. "Right, then. We should start looking..."

"Looking for what?"

"Well... anything that might be useful. I'm not sure, really."

Canada stifled another laugh, walking over to the piano. His small smile turned into a thoughtful frown as he inspected the numbers. "Numbers on the piano...? And they're different colors too." He tilted his head thoughtfully.

England leaned over his shoulder. "Numbers? Oh right, I remember now. I'm not sure what they mean, though." He scratched his head.

Canada sat down on the bench of the piano as England began leafing though the books on the bookshelves in the corners of the room. "Numbers... something that uses numbers... puzzles... security, too." He frowned and shook his head. "But this house isn't very high-tech. So... a safe, maybe?"

"Hey!" England called, snapping the other out of his thoughts. He jabbed a finger in the direction of the door. "I'll be right back. There was a library in the other room, and there might be some useful information in those books. Don't go anywhere, okay?"

"Don't worry England, I won't." Canada said reassuringly.

He nodded one last time and quietly left the room, closing the door behind him. Canada watched him go with a sigh, setting Kumajiggle on the piano bench as he began to pace the room. "Wait... I was talking about something... what was it?" He frowned. "I forgot... God, this is all America's fault." he sighed, deciding not to try to remember just yet was he was talking about earlier. "He's such an idiot, it's just like him to get us into a mess like this." Of course, he was worried for his older brother, but that didn't stop him from being annoyed.

He continued to pace, not looking up as the door opened. "England? That was quick... Oh, you shouldn't have gone off alone, you know. Well, i probably shouldn't have let you either, but-" He looked up, expecting to see England, but instead had to bite back a scream when he saw the monster.

"O-oh no..." he whispered to himself. "Wh-what should I do...?" he fretted, wringing his hands in worry as the monster moved around the room. He blinked a few times, stopped wringing his hands, and tentatively asked, "Er, can you see me?"

The monster continued moving around as if he hadn't heard him. '_I'll just... I'll just be the piano._' he decided, and let his arms fall to his side and stood completely still, eyes trained on the thing. After it took a few more decided looks around the room, it promptly stalked out.

Canada's shoulders slumped in relief and he sighed, walking slowly back over to Kumajirou. "Kumaheggle, that was kind of weird, eh? I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad about it..." He sighed again, swallowing hard as he gently picked up his pet, which immediately nestled into his arms. The blond slowly sat down, finally starting to feel incredible shaky after he realized what his experience could have turned into.

"Dammit, there wasn't anything useful in there..." England grumbled to himself as he reentered the piano room. "Huh? Canada?" he blinked in surprise as he made his way over. "Are you alright? You look pale..."

Canada blinked, snapping out of his thoughts and staring at England in confusion. He hadn't seen the monster? How was that even possible? There was no way he could have missed it, it came back in only seconds after England left... '_Wait, seconds... seconds, hours, minutes, time... Time! The flow of time... is it messed up somehow? Yes... that has to be it!'_

"Canada!" England repeated, more forcefully this time. "What were you saying?"

The Canadian nation blinked, not realizing he'd been muttering his thoughts to himself. "Eh? Oh, that... it was nothing England, don't worry about it," he assured the blond as he was helped to his feet. "Let's just say... I don't think that the monster will be coming in this room for a while..."

**.~*~.**

Germany sighed in exasperation as he and his brother walked up and down the hallways of the first floor. They still hadn't found anything yet, and though they hadn't been looking very long, it still made him mad. They were able to find a safe in the kitchen, but they didn't have the combination lock to open it.

"This is so frustrating!" he snapped, resisting the urge to slam his fist into a wall. "We're just wandering around while- while Italy is by himself in this damn place! And Japan's fighting that thing..." He groaned in frustration. "I knew I shouldn't have let him keep watch..."

"West, calm down!" Prussia admonished. "You're not the only one who's worried. Besides, I have a feeling that Ita will be alright. And Japan is fighting with China and Russia. We just have to stay positive, okay?"

Germany nodded after a few moments, sighing. "You're right, bruder. I shouldn't get so down..." He laughed a little. "I just can't help but worry about him all the time, you know?"

The albino smiled a little, "Yeah, I know whatcha mean."

There was a short silence before Germany spoke up, "A-Anyways, moving on." he said as they returned to the foyer of the mansion, pointing down the hall past the stairs. "We haven't looked there yet, so let's see if we can't find anything useful."

The two took a short walk down the room into some Japanese-style rooms. They checked a few closets, but there was nothing there. As they walked down the hallway and rounded the corner, they saw one of th things emerge out of the closet just as they did. "Shit!" Prussia exclaimed, grabbing his brother's hand and immediately starting to run away.

They turned down the hallway they had just come from as the monster pursed. They rushed into the bathroom while Prussia hurriedly locked the door. The heavy-breathing and cold chill from the monster's presence faded after a while, and both brothers relaxed in relief.

"That was too close," Germany muttered as he opened the door and slowly walked out.

Prussia nodded. "yeah... but I think we should go back there." Prussia sighed at his brother's incredulous look. "Hear me out, okay? When Japan found me, the monster was there. It seems like it's following us, or... it shows up whenever we're making progress or getting close to it. It's worth a shot, don't you think?"

Germany tapped foot and crossed his arms for a moment in contemplation before he finally gave in. "Alright, that does make sense. Let's go,"

Prussia grinned and pumped a fist in the air before he practically skipped back to the room they'd been in earlier. They walked towards the closet and slowly slid the door open, fearing what nasty surprises may have been behind there. He grinned when they found a small piece of paper with yellow and red rectangle outlines.

"What is it?" Germany frowned.

Prussia bit his lip and shrugged. "I dunno..." he muttered. Both gave a start when Prussia's phone suddenly rang. "Since when did we get service here...?" he muttered to himself, checking the caller ID, which was listed as an unknown number.

"Bruder, answer it, quickly.

"Fine, fine." he rolled his eyes and opened his phone. "Hello?" he asked. There was an intense moment of silence, followed by one piano note, before the line went dead. "Wh... what the hell was that?" he raised an eyebrow in confusion before pocketing his phone.

"It was a piano note..." Germany shook his head. "Who was calling us anyways?"

"I don't know." Prussia admitted quietly. "... Come on, I think this could be something worth telling the others." And with that, they headed off towards the piano room.

**.~*~.**

After a short while of waiting with Canada and England, Japan's group returned. Japan had a few more significant injuries, as did the other two. But they got the meeting under progress right away. Japan explained what they found with the clocks and how breaking the clocks seemed to have adjusted time. He also mentioned a mysterious phone call that Russia received, and Germany and Prussia piped up by then as well, sharing their own phone call.

They explained about the scraps of paper they'd found, and it matched up with one of the scraps Japan managed to keep, even though his backpack was gone. And then, even England's phone rang, adding another piece to the puzzle.

All of this was observed by Canada with detail. The wheels and cogs in his head began to turn as he quietly analyzed, for once grateful no one was paying much attention to him. That way, he could concentrate.

"Anyways, we should hurry," Japan said. "and find both France and America-kun-"

"What?" Canada asked, raising an eyebrow. "Wh-what about..." he trailed off in confusion.

"Russia..." China said quietly, glancing over at the tall nation.

He nodded, laying a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I know. It's okay."

"W-wait, what?" Japan stared at the others in shock. "What do you mean?"

"Japan, you forgot to mention him back then too, but Italy came to this place with us." Russia said, observing the other with a curious look.

"Japan, why did you say America? He didn't come with us!" England raised an eyebrow, and earned a few curious glances form the others, making him falter. "He didn't, did he...? I just thought we were here to save Italy, France and R-"

"America came here with us!" Canada snapped, annoyed at England for disregarding his brother like that. But there was no way he would usually do that, even though it was probably just to complain. "How could you guys forget?"

China shook his head. "Everyone, calm down. We need to find America and-"

"America didn't come here!" England exclaimed in exasperation. "France Italy and his-"

"Wait, France didn't come here!" Prussia exclaimed. "Why would he come, anyways? He told me he was just gonna go home after the meeting..."

The blond nation watched everyone incredulously, scoffing. What was wrong with everyone? Why were their memories all mixed up? He didn't understand... This was too weird. But his memory, too, was feeling a little fuzzy. "There's something wrong with this place, Kumajello." he mumbled sadly, stroking the top of his pet's head.

"I don't know where I am so it doesn't matter to me." the bear replied with an airy yawn. Canada rolled his eyes, and frowned as he noticed Japan walking over to one of the drawer units in the corner of the room while everyone else argued. He noticed him take a clock out and break it, standing still for a moment as confusion clouded his face, before his shoulders relaxed and he seemed to look a lot more informed. He returned to the circle and bean listening in again.

They took a few minutes to sort out the memory confusion after Japan explained the vision he'd had from the clock. He glanced over at the piano every now and again, as if it held a bigger mystery, a bigger part of the puzzle. Germany's phone also rang, and as he answered it and they put the notes together, Canada sat down at the table and examined the piano.

'Si, Re, Sol, and La..." he repeated silently to himself, staring at the numbers of the keyboard and back to the piece of paper.

"I've got it!" he cried suddenly, a grin forming on his face. "I know how to solve the puzzle!" The others quickly gathered around the piano, giving Canada skeptical and intrigued looks. "It's quite simple, really," he explained, placing the pieces of paper on the piano. "You see, these were the notes that were played over the phone," He pressed down on the four keys, "and they correspond with the colored numbers written on the piano."

"So it's four two six nine?" England frowned, crossing his arms, and Canada shook his head.

"Nope. The numbers are colored by what order the numbers need to be lined up in the boxes; so red, yellow, green, and blue. We have to line up the numbers in order of the colors on the pieces of paper." Germany offered him a pen and he smiled gratefully as he wrote down the numbers in order in the boxes. "Five two nine four!" he said, holding up the scraps of paper to England.

"That's genius..." China muttered, staring in amazement at the piece of paper.

"It really is easy when you put it that way." Germany nodded thoughtfully.

"Good job, Canada-kun," Japan commented happily. The blond smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head, not used to having such attention. "Come on everyone, let's head to the safe." The nations all filed out the door, but England and Japan lingered, staring at the piano. England could see it, he could see faint traces of blood there. _Japan's _blood. Japan gave him a strange look, as if silently agreeing with him.

"He..." England started, sighing uselessly after a few moments. "Whoever he was... I think we need to find that out." he muttered, referring to his earlier vision.

Japan nodded. "Yes. I have a hunch... just a hunch, mind you..." He glanced over his shoulder. "We should catch up with the others. Let's go."

* * *

**Woah, that was a long chapter! Hope this made up for the short chapter I gave you guys last time x3 I'm going to be writing a lot about England and France being fatherly, because F.A.C.E is just perfect. Hope this wasn't too confusing for anyone, I think I kinda rushed it o-o;Anyways, lots and lots of mystery this chapter. And next chapter, we find a certain group in the mansion :D (hehe not telling uwu)**

**On a side note, tomorrow is my birthday and reviews make great presents~ :'D**

**EDIT: I wet over the chapter but it was unedited when I published it. I fixed all the errors now!**


	8. Clear and Unclear Messages

Canada was the unexpected leader of the group as they made their way down to the kitchen where Germany and Prussia had earlier found the safe. They arrived in a short time, and unlocked the safe even quicker. Canada smiled as he reached his hand into the small compartment and pulled out a small key. "See? It worked," he said softly, hopping down from the stool.

"Yes..." Germany nodded thoughtfully. "That was very smart of you,"

The blond smiled bashfully. "Thank you..."

"Now, we need to figure out what to do with all this," said Prussia. "We already have a few keys, don't we? We should sort them all out with which room they go in." He turned to Japan. "Can you carry them?"

Japan nodded. "Yes, I can put them in my pocket." He frowned. "I seem to have lost my backpack, though..."

"Maybe Italy took it with him." Germany said helpfully. "He was probably really panicked when... he probably grabbed it in a panic." he finally finished, rubbing his forehead.

"Where could this key lead to?" asked England, brows furrowed. "We've passed a lot of doors, it's hard to keep track."

"We found an unlocked door earlier," said Germany. "It was near where we found the paper for the piano."

China nodded. "Great, then let's go there. Prussia, lead the way please."

The albino man obliged, and led them to the tatami room. The key, as suspected, unlocked the door. The nations spread out around the room immediately and began searching. Japan found himself at a table scattered with different papers, full of unintelligible scribbles. '_Italy found those interesting... I may want to keep them._' he thought as he sifted through the pages.

He frowned and motioned to England. "England, can you read this? For the life of me, I simply cannot figure out anything on these papers..." he sighed and slumped down into a chair.

England nodded and traced his fingers over the words on the paper, silently mouthing as he tried to make out what it said. After a minute or so, he sighed and shook his head. "I can't tell what this is... I-it's really weird, Japan, you see..." he shook his head. "It's too hard to explain."

Japan frowned lightly before he turned his attention back to the papers. "Hmm... I would be confused too," he murmured, leaning down to pick up one of the fallen papers. In addition, that was when he noticed it; under the desk, there was a small button. "... England, there is a button under here." he called.

"Wha- really?" inquired the Brit.

"Push it!" Prussia shouted enthusiastically.

Japan shrugged as best he could under the small space and pushed the button with his forefinger; it retracted, and there was a loud rumbling sound. He quickly moved out from under the desk and stared at the large bookcase near the edge of the room, which was slowly moving aside to reveal a door. The rumbling soon stopped, leaving everyone speechless.

"... I'll go see what's in there," Japan offered quietly.

"You're not going alone," said England almost immediately afterwards, slapping a hand on his uninjured shoulder. He turned to the rest of the group, "You all look for the clock. Now that we've found something else, it could pop out at any moment..." he trailed off before going over to the new door. He slowly opened it and they entered a small, windowless room, with what looked like a set of jail bars cutting the room in half. Both men could not help but think they had seen this before.

Japan blinked, noticing something glint in the dim light. "There's something in there," he said and moved into the cage; England moved in with him, testing the door to see how it closed and opened. Japan brushed his fingers over the key and noticed what looked like spilled ink on the handle. He had not seen anything like that in the keyholes of the doors upstairs. He reasoned that it must be on the first floor, before turning back to England.

"Let's see where this key leads to," he said, keeping a hand on the katana attached to his belt. "We should proceed with caution."

England nodded in reply, sliding the cell door open. They carefully approached the door and England mouthed, "On three" and held up three fingers, counting down. He swung open the door and ran, pulling Japan along with him. They heard a growl behind them and did not look back.

England panted form hard and fast he was running, and Japan was not doing too well either. He fumbled with the door of the library before pulling his friend inside and slamming the door shut, locking it. Silence reigned, and calm settled over the duo. Japan sighed in relief, and England's shoulders sagged.

"Thank God we made it..."

Japan nodded, standing up straight now, and walking over the table he had been at later. He stared at the broken wood, but the chair was still upright. The chair 'Arthur' died in. "England," said Japan, "does the name Arthur ring a bell?"

England turned to him, eyes hard for a brief moment before slowly shaking his head. "No... Nothing that could relate to this mansion." He sighed and ran a hand through his scruffy hair. "... Come on; let's not waste too much time on it. This place is giving me the creeps. We should get back to the others."

Japan nodded in agreement and silently followed. England took one last glance at the chair, the faint vision of a dead blond slumped there. He also took notice of the person next to him, shaking him and yelling in a foreign language. However, he did not want to think of it any further.

**.~*~.**

They arrived back at the study, and found everyone in a circle with Germany holding the clock. They all breathed a sigh of relief when both England and Japan returned seemingly unharmed. "I'm sorry you had to go through that," China said softly, laying a hand on his brother's shoulder.

He shook his head. "It's quite alright. It was nothing that we couldn't handle." He took his place in the circle and tuned into their conversation.

"We found the clock," Canada chimed in.

"We also found a key," England smirked in triumph and raised the ink-stained key, gently waving it in the air for all to see.

"It must lead to the basement," Russia smiled, everyone turning to him in confusion. "Oh come now, it's obvious that a big house like this would have a basement."

Germany nodded. "That makes sense. First, we must settle this memory confusion. Everyone, if you have something to say, raise your hand. You will have three minutes to talk. Understood?"

"Er, can I go first then?" asked England. "I don't think I'm the only one who noticed; but when we break the clocks, we... we see things."

China nodded. "So you noticed it too... I wasn't sure what it was at first, so I didn't say anything."

Germany raised an eyebrow, obviously confused. "Really?"

Canada nodded. "Yes. I vaguely remember getting a memory of coming with Japan and the others in the piano room."

Russia smiled. "Our memories are all mixed up, so let's try and figure out how we started in the first place."

Japan nodded and quietly began recalling the events of yesterday. "We were all gathered at the world conference, there is no doubt of that. America heard rumors of a haunted mansion and thought it would be a fun idea to take everyone."

"So," Canada said, "he took Russia, China, England, France, and me with him.

"I also invited Japan, but at the time he refused." China added.

"And then," Japan began once again, "Ita-kun said that he wanted to come too, so Prussia, Germany and I went along with him."

"Then what about the other memories?" England asked, raising an eyebrow. "I have memories of coming here with Japan and America too."

"Maybe we're confused," said Russia simply. "This could be some sort of tactic from the thing to mess us up."

Japan frowned, "I don't think that is the case, Russia-san... but it would be safe to assume otherwise until we can disprove the statement." The Russian beamed, and he turned to Germany. "Germany, I think everyone is ready. You can break the clock now.

The blond nodded, staring warily at the clock. "Alright. Everyone, brace yourselves. And remember, keep your memories straight. Remember who you came here with." He threw the clock onto the ground harshly and stomped on it for an added effect.

At first, there was nothing; but suddenly, the ground suddenly rushed up to meet him, and Japan was enveloped in darkness.

**.~*~.**

The first thing I notice is the room I am in. I look around and noticed dozens of bookshelves lining the room. The floor is gray, dark wood, and a strange mist covers it. I turn and notice America and England. "America!" I exclaim, running over. "America, you're okay! You're-"

- America definitely did not look fine once I got closer. Tears are streaming down his face and he is struggling to hold in sobs. His hands are on England's shoulders, clenching the material of his uniform tightly. England is staring at him blankly, green eyes blank. As if, he is looking through America. As if he... can't see him...

I snap out of my thoughts when hearing my own despaired yell. "_ITALY! NO!_" The hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I turn to the room it came from. The door is open, and I notice three figures. Germany, Prussia, and myself.

They are huddled around a lifeless form.

I walk closer.

My eyes widen.

Italy is lying there.

On the cold floor.

Dead and unmoving.

A scream threatens to rip through my throat but before it can the scene changes.

Now, I am standing in the piano room.

My stomach lurches when I see my bloody body lying against the piano, head lolled to the side.

There is a figure in front of it; but it is blurred and flickers like the flame of a candle. I cannot see who it is. Garbled, frantic speech pours out, but I cannot understand what it is trying to tell me.

Something grabs me by the shoulders and starts shaking me. "I-I fucking told you to run, -!"

What? He is starting to recognize the figure. There is a monster behind him. "W-wait, what do you mean-"

"_-_, please! Run! Get _OUT_ of here! _PLEASE_!" The voice is desperate and broken.

"I-I don't understand! Wh-who-"

And suddenly, a pair of eyes pierces me, gazing at me in an intense way that I have never been gazed before.

He knows who it is.

"_SNAP OUT OF IT, JAPAN_!"

**.~*~.**

And suddenly, Japan was back in the real world. Prussia was violently shaking his shoulders and screaming at him. His eyes snapped open and he quickly pushed Prussia back, breathing hard. "Bruder, let go! He's fine now!"

"He doesn't look fine to me!" The albino retorts.

"Quit yelling!" Canada snapped, concerned for his friend.

There is a strained silence set over the room as Japan tried to regain his breathing control, mind racing.

_Wh-what... what_was _that?_

"Japan," A much softer voice was speaking this time, and he raised his face to meet China's gaze. He lifted one long sleeve and wiped away the tears lingering on his face. "Are you alright?"

After several long, dull moments, he finally answered, "Yes. I... I am fine now. I'll be fine... as soon as we find the others..." He rubbed his aching head, tears threatening to sting his eyes once more, the memories fresh in his mind. He sucked in a slow breath, trying to analyze what he saw.

England was blind.

Italy was dead.

And someone, _someone_was trying to tell him why, what happened, how it happened-

-and what went wrong.

"Let's go to the basement." Russia said softly, "It'll be somewhere on the first floor. Let's all stay together, now."

Japan walked beside England and Prussia, who gave him worried looks. "H-hey, Japan," Prussia started hesitantly. "Sorry... for yelling 'n stuff. I guess that was pretty unawesome of me..." he sighed. "I kinda freaked out when you collapsed, though... I-I... I just..."

Japan nodded. "That's alright... it's quite understandable to have been worried."

The albino nodded sheepishly and muttered another apology, patting the top of his friend's head. Japan turned to England, whose eyes were clouded in thought. They looked much better now than they had in that memory: a dull green, the dull green of a dying old man. He liked them much better when they were vibrant and alive like this as he thought.

England raised his head to meet Japan's gaze, giving him a bitter smile. "Did you... the piano?" he asked quietly, referring to both their earlier visions. He himself had seen his own terrible demise.

He nodded, sighing softly. "Yes. I still cannot understand what he is saying. But I think I'm getting closer..."

**.~*~.**

America glanced over at Veneziano's sleeping form, the Italian's head lying against his shoulder and a peaceful expression on his face. He looked somewhat cute like that, but he wouldn't admit that aloud because that was creepy and heroes weren't supposed to be creepy.

Earlier, Veneziano had strictly ordered America not to let him fall asleep no matter what, but he had gotten tired and sat down next to America of his own accord. He shook his head and ruffled the other's hair. Sometimes, it was hard to believe that he was younger than a guy like that.

France yawned and crossed towards them, folding his arms across his chest and leaning against the wall. "So, any ideas?"

He sighed. "Nope…"

A simple nod from the Frenchman. The thing that was bugging him wasn't only that there seemed to be no way of escape, but that he couldn't tell how long they'd been in here. His watch wasn't working, and he couldn't tell if they'd been in here minutes or hours.

"The others should have found us by now," America fretted. "Do you think they're okay? They… they wouldn't leave without us, would they?" his expression was now panicked, and France couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't worry, Amerique. They'll be here soon, I know it."

The bespectacled nation nodded tensely. And after a few more moments, they heard footsteps and voices. They grew louder, closer, until finally, Japan and the rest of the nations entered the room, staring in shock at the three in the cage.

"Italy!" Germany exclaimed happily, eyes laid on the sleeping figure.

"Guys!" America waved at them with a silly grin.

"America, France, you idiots!" England immediately cried. "We were worri- w-wondering where you were!" He huffed and crossed his arms.

The Frnehcman chuckled and twirled a strand of hair around his finger. "Oh, how cute! You needn't worry about us, mon cher. We're fine."

America stood up, slowly lifting the unconscious Italian onto his back carefully, so as not to wake him. "Sweet! Can you guys open the door? We can't from in here."

Japan nodded and quickly walked over, opening the door for the three. All the nations gathered around in a circle and began checking and fretting over the three nations. "Germany," America waved him over, Prussia and Japan following. "Italy hurt his leg, but he should be fine. He's kinda tired."

Germany nodded, lifting Veneziano off the American's back and into his arms. "Right. Thank you for taking care of him."

He grinned proudly. "S' nothing. A hero's job, 's all!" he laughed, his laughter cut short when an annoyed looking Canada yanked him away from the group by his arm. The Axis laughed softly, and Veneziano began to stir.

"Mh…" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. "Where…" he looked around and met Germany's kin gaze, immediately letting out a surprised yelp and stumbling out of his arms, fae red. "V-ve, what a way to wake up…" he mumbled with nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his head.

Germany chuckled and ruffled his hair. "It's good to see you're alright, Italy." Japan finally noticed the strange look in Veneziano's eyes when Germany called him that.

"Yeah!" Prussia cackled, pulling him into a hug. "I was worried about my little Ita!" Both men laughed until Japan finally broke them apart with a soft chuckle.

"Oh, Japan!" Veneziano slung the small pack off his shoulders and handed it to Japan. "Sorry, we had some of your food. And I lost a lot of those papers from earlier you had in there…"

Japan's heart skipped beat. "Wh-what? You got rid of them?"

His eyes watered. "I-I'm sorry! But we were running and going really fast and I thought the backpack was heavy and I didn't want to move any of your stuff so I moved the papers into my pockets but then I lost them a-and-"

Japan cut his friend off by placing a finger to his lips. "Alright. I understand, Ita-kun." He smiled a little and shook his head. "Everyone makes mistakes."

Veneziano's smile faltered briefly, but he forced it as much as he could to come back.

Japan was the only one who noticed.

**.~*~. **

Spain was sitting on the couch of his living room, calmly reading a book. It had been a long day for him, a very long day, and he needed something to help keep himself under control. Romano still hadn't called back, but he knew that he was probably busy.

He sighed and closed his book, marking the page. He felt so stressed, so tense… "I'll give him another call." He hummed, and got out his phone. He scrolled through his contacts list and smiled, going through his list to find Romano's number.

The phone rang several times, but he received a message saying that the inbox was full. "I guess I left a lot of messages…" he laughed a little to himself. He couldn't help it, really. Whether it be in person, phone calls, or texts, he loved talking with him.

Then again, by this time in the day, Spain would have received an annoyed, angry-sounding message informing him that yes, Romano did get his 32582385028520352 calls, and that he didn't need to call anymore lest he want to lose certain parts of his body,

He pocketed his phone. "I should go see if he's alright…" he decided quietly. Besides, seeing him in person was much better than communicating over a distance.

Spain got outside and hopped on his motorcycle, taking the relatively short drive to Romano's house. He was a nation of course, and had the power to travel between other nations quite easily. He pulled up to his former henchman's driveway with a huge smile, and parked his bike.

He skipped up to the steps and noticed the door was ajar. Maybe Romano was expecting him to come over. He frowned and carefully pushed the door open, tiptoeing inside. "Roma? Romano, it's me, boss. You home?"

No answer. He noticed a small table placed almost directly in front of the doorway, near the staircase leading to the upstairs. There was Romano's old phone on it. Spain raised an eyebrow; there was a small paper taped to the screen of the phone that said "Press 1".

He did.

Instantly, a message began to play. "_Hey Spain, you bastard. I'm not home today. And I won't be coming back._" … Wait, what? Not coming back? What was that supposed to mean? "_You probably won't find this message, but I'll say it anyways. Thanks. For everything._" Thanks? No no no, why did it sound like he was saying goodbye?

A raspy voice suddenly rang through his ears. "**_Time's up_**."

He yelped and threw the phone away from him. It crashed against the wall and broke. He panted heavily and walked past the table into the main room. "Romano! Romano, are you here?!" he cried, frantically searching every room and every corner of the house.

Finally, he arrived at Romano's room. He lowly opened the door and felt his stomach churn as he did.

The wall was spattered with blood, and the whole room was torn apart by what looked like claw marks. He held in a shaky breath, bile rising threateningly to his throat. "R… Roma…?" he asked, voice a small squeak as he took a step further into the room.

He noticed a small piece of paper lying by his foot and he picked it up. There it was, clear as day, a message in Romano's handwriting.

'_Thank you. Goodbye._'

Tears stung his eyes and when he let the paper fall to the floor, he noticed the blood splatters on the wall make out a phrase.

**_YoU wOnT eScApE_**

* * *

Aaaaaaand that's chapter 8! :D Just warning you, but things may be confusing the next few chapters. Also, I may have mixed up what floor the piano room is on a few times... ene I'll have to go back and fix that xD Anyways, I have a question for you guys: PruPan or Asakiku? Really, it could go either way at this point, but I'm curious to see what my readers think c:

Alright, see you guys with the new chapter next week! Don't forget to review~!


	9. Cold Hands

"Well, now that we are all together again," Japan said, "we should split up so that we can cover more ground."

Veneziano shook his head. "Ve, but Japan, shouldn't… shouldn't we stay together, now that we've finally found each other?" he asked softly, eyes shining with worry.

"Oh, come now," Germany rolled his eyes. "It's easier this way. Don't look so scared."

Veneziano looked strongly like he was about to retort, but he held it back. "… I guess," he muttered, sending his scornful glare to the floor.

"America, you'll be coming with me," England said. America almost looked excited at this prospect before England continued by saying, "to lecture you for being so stupid and running off on your own. Look, you even got Italy hurt with your idiocy."

"Hey, that wasn't my fault!" America whined, throwing his hands in air in exasperation.

"Still," Canada raised an eyebrow and gave him a stern glare, "I'd like to have a word with you too."

"No way!" he exclaimed. "Then… then… I'm going with Japan!" he laughed, throwing an arm casually around Japan's shoulder with a silly grin.

"Oh, no you don't…" England started, brows furrowing in anger.

"Please, everyone, calm down." Japan said quickly, motioning with his hands for peace. "America, you can come with me. England, you may tag along. But I'd prefer if you leave it to me to lecture him in your place."

England raised an eyebrow at Japan's strange look, but eventually nodded. "Alright, fine."

"Give him an earful," Canada said cheerfully.

"I wanna go with you, Japan!" Veneziano said quickly, latching onto his friend's arm. "Germany, you come too!" The blond raised an eyebrow, but finally nodded at the other's pleading look.

"Alright," said Germany, "then everyone else, go your separate ways when you explore the basement. But stay close." They nodded in mutual agreement, and parted to explore the rest of the lower floor.

**.~*~.**

England frowned as he examined the shelves of the bookcase, ignoring the other four nations standing behind him. "Dammit, there's something about this room that's putting me off... but I haven't a clue what it is..." he sighed, flipping through the pages of a worn book. ""Why don't you all look in the room behind me?" he asked, waving a hand dismissively in their direction.

Veneziano nodded and quickly opened the door, filing inside. A little too quickly for someone with a leg injury like that, thought Japan. As they entered what appeared to be a cave, with dim light, Veneziano shut the door behind them and began looking around. "It's so dark in here..."

Japan nodded in agreement. "Yes... I can hardly see at all." He cupped his hands over his eyes and squinted in the darkness, hoping to find something, anything that could be used as a light.

"Oh!" Veneziano exclaimed suddenly, rifling through his pockets. "I know that it's in here somewhere- there it is!" he grinned, pulling out a small lighter and flicked it open, a small flame lighting the dark cave. "I forgot I had this..."

Germany raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you smoke?" The Italian visibly tensed, but said nothing else, and he decided not to push the matter any further.

America sniffed the air, eyes wide. "Hey... Guys, I... I smell rain!" he grinned, pointing further ahead down the tunnel.

"Rain?" Japan inquired. They slowly walked down the tunnel, Veneziano leading the way with the small flame from his lighter flickering. The further they went, the stronger the sound of pattering raindrops became. They hit the end of the tunnel, and were staring up a large wall of stone that led up to the mouth of a short cave. There was a matted old rope dangling down from the top.

Japan walked over and fingered the rope briefly before letting it fall from his hands. "This is great news..." he murmured. "Let's go back to the others and tell them; right away."

They all nodded in agreement and walked back down the tunnel into the room where England was. He was standing on a glowing green circle, a light blue aura surrounding him. His eyes were closed and he looked rather peaceful; then the glowing stopped and England's eyes opened. He grinned and turned to the others.

"I've got some of my magic back!" he exclaimed.

"That's awesome!" America laughed.

"And we've found an exit," Germany added.

England's eyes widened and he laughed a bit. "W... well... that's great news! Let's tell the others!" he said quickly, turning towards the door. Veneziano stopped him.

"Wait... do you hear something?" he raised an eyebrow, and cupped his ear. The others listened intently and sure enough, there was the steady sound of a clock ticking. England walked back over to the bookshelf and rifled through it until his fingers grasped another clock.

"We're supposed to break it, right?" America asked. "Let's just do it now and rid ourselves of the trouble."

England scowled. "We have a way out, there's no need to break it." Japan silently agreed, quietly dreading the visions he would have to endure if they chose to break the clock.

"Aw, come on! I wanna see the other stuff you guys got to see!" Japan noticed Veneziano's face twist up angrily for a brief moment, and he suppressed a shudder.

England rolled his eyes. "_Fine_!" he snapped, hovering one glowing hand over the clock. "But don't come crying to me later when you regret this!" And with that, the clock was broken.

**.~*~. **

I find myself in the tunnel we had just explored. I look around and see Veneziano, Germany, Prussia, and myself near the door. Prussia says, "Ah, we can finally escape! At last..."

Veneziano nods, though he doesn't have nearly the amount of enthusiasm Prussia has. He merely mutters, "Yeah."

"Come on then," Germany orders, "Let's go already. The others are going to be right behind us, and we better not let them wait too long for us to get out."

The other me looks ready to object, but stays silent; until they hear Germany's cry of pain. Veneziano's eyes snapp open; alert, he races over to where he's heard it. "Germany!"

He is currently struggling with his foot, which appears to be caught in something. The monster stands a few feet away, glaring down at its prey intently. "I- I can't get this vine off!" he cries.

By the look of Veneziano's expression, he knows it's not a vine. But his expression changes to worry and he retreats back to the door. "The others!" The other me and Prussia glance at Germany in worry, but he yells, telling them to run and follow him.

I squeeze my eyes shut as Germany's scream echoes through the air, followed by the sickening crunch of flesh.

The scene changes and I am further into the cave. The monster stands in front of the rope ladder, which is currently blazing with flame. "There goes our way out..." I hear Prussia say.

Veneziano is hiccuping loudly and wiping at his eyes. "No...this wasn't supposed to happen... I-I... I'm so sorry, G-Germany..." he stutters, not even moving as the monster approaches him.

"Italy!" Germany cries, racing over to him and trying to get him to move. "Don't just give up! We have to keep fighting!"

"I-I've tried-" His voice cracks and he sobs harder, "I've tried over and over and over and nothing wo-works, were n-never going to get out of here-" He is cut off by the roar of the monster, which sounds disturbingly like a laugh.

"Italy, don't just stand there! Run-" Germany is now cut off when the monster charges both of them.

"NO!" Prussia screams weakly, but from the looks of his condition, he is powerless to stop it. "West... Ita..."

The scene changes to where Prussia is standing in front of the fallen Germany, bravely brandishing his sword at the monster. He looks back at Veneziano, who is trying to help Germany to his feet. "Don't you see, Japan?" he yelled, swinging his sword upon the creature's head with incredible force.

The other me looks confused briefly, before his eyes widen and he nods quickly, a small grin spreading onto his face. "Yes! You were right, Prussia."

Right about what? I frown as the speech distorts. Dammit, not again! How can this keep happening? Who is trying to stop me from seeing this?

When the scene changes again, there is no monster. Not that I can see, anyways. I see Veneziano staring up at the mouth of the cave looking speechless with his eyes full of tears. But this must be something that no one wants me to see; because once again, like many other visions before, the words are distorted and garbled the figures distorted. As if someone was trying to stop anyone from ever seeing these memories.

"... I'm Italy too!" A voice defiantly screams. My head snaps around towards the source of the voice and I see two figures standing at the mouth of the hole's entrance. Romano and Spain... Romano... Spain... Romano... I yelp as my head aches and throbs, trying to draw the source of this memory.

I know... I know I've been here before... this has happened... But something -or is it someone?- is trying to block out the memory, something's not letting me remember.

I finally give up and let the memory slip from my grasp, returning to the regular world at last.

**.~*~.**

Japan realized that he must have really been out of it, because when he finally raised his head to meet the other nations' gazes, they stared at him with worry and confusion. Veneziano's look, however, was different. It was... accusing, and maybe even scared. Was it _him_ trying to prevent Japan from seeing the memory? Then again, how could Veneziano of all people stop him? He'd rather not think about it.

"Uh, that wasn't as fun as I thought it'd be." America said awkwardly.

"Of course not!" England rolled his eyes, running a hand through his hair. His voice was quiet pale.

"England, you look unfocused..." America frowned. "H... how many fingers am I holding up?"

England stared hard at America, and so did Veneziano, before the blond shoved the hand away with a scoff. "Two, of course. Don't be such an idiot."

"Japan," Veneziano interrupted, placing his hands on Japan's shoulders. "Are you okay...?"

"Yes," he lied. "I'm fine."

He shook his head. "Japan, whatever you saw, don't think about it, okay? Whatever you're seeing, it's trying to confuse you."

Japan frowned. "Are you sure? I think someone's-"

"Please." he repeated urgently, nails lightly digging into his shoulder. "Please don't think about those visions..."

Japan swallowed uneasily. It was hard to ignore the pleading look in his friend's eyes. Finally, he sighed and nodded. "Alright. I won't give it anymore thought."

Veneziano released him, looking rather pleased. But Japan could see the doubt that lingered in his gaze. "We should go back to the others." Germany said softly, laying a hand on the Italian's shoulder. Everyone nodded mutually in agreement and they left the room, going back to the room with the cell.

**.~*~. **

"So in short, we can leave any time we want." Japan finished, hands resting at his sides.

There were a few beats of silence before America spoke. "We don't have to go right away, do we? I've only gotten to see the basement, I wanna explore more of the mansion!" he laughed airily.

"There were also some medicines I saw lying around. I'd like to check those out too." China added.

France crossed his arms. "Shouldn't we just leave now? There's no point in staying here longer if we don't have to."

Canada glanced towards America and shook his head. "There's no point in arguing with him when he's like this, France... he won't listen to anyone." Canada laughed a little at America's pouty glare that he received.

"You're all idiots." Germany muttered to himself, rubbing his forehead.

Japan sighed in exasperation. "Alright, alright... form your groups, then, and meet in the cave as soon as possible... Germany, Prussia, Ita-kun and I will go on ahead." They all nodded and began to leave the room. Prussia frowned and walked towards Japan, gently grabbing his arm before he left.

"Stay a bit longer, will you? I need to talk to you about something." Japan frowned and raised an eyebrow, but gave a small nod and lingered by the doorway.

Prussia relinquished the grip on his friend's arm and crossed his arms, leaning against the wall expectantly. "Something's been bugging you, hasn't it?"

Japan blinked in surprise. Was it really that easy to tell he was troubled? He slowly shook his head. "I'm not sure what you're talking abou-"

"Japan." Prussia said sternly. "Tell me the truth."

He let out a weary sigh and his shoulders slumped in defeat. "Well... form now one... if I make a decision, it will affect everything. If I try to go down one path, I lose someone. But if I go down another path, I lose someone else..." He rubbed his forehead. "And someone... someone is trying to give me a message, I'm sure of it... but I don't know if they're okay, o-or what has happened to them." He grit his teeth. "It's all so frustrating, Prussia..."

Prussia studied him for a few moments, making a noise in the back of his throat contemplatively. "Did you talk to anyone about it?" he asked.

Japan frowned. "Talk to anyone? Well, no, of course not."

"And why _not _Japan?"

He frowned again. "Well... I don't want to burden them... I feel like this si something I have to do alone-"

"That's where you're wrong," Prussia said, cutting him off. "You don't have to do any of this alone, you haven't been doing any of this alone." He smirked a little and walked over, tilting Japan's chin up to meet his gaze. "C'mon, you've at least known that you could tell all this to the awesome me." He ruffled the other's hair with a grin. "You're missing something, and I'll give you points if you remember. Besides, now that you've told the awesome me, no one else is gonna die!" he followed it up with a short laugh before his expression softened a bit. "I mean it. No one is going to die."

Japan blinked several times, tears suddenly stinging his eyes. Of course, how could he have forgotten? He nodded quickly and wiped his eyes. "Y-you're right. I... I should have asked for help. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," Prussia rolled his eyes. "You can make up for it by remembering. Now come on, let's go meet West and Ita in the tunnel. I wanna get out of this place." With a few strides, he was out of the room, leaving Japan to stare off after him.

"What am I forgetting?" he asked himself quietly, before rushing out of the room to meet up with his friends.

**.~*~. **

The four nations stood in the tunnel, staring down ahead. Prussia grinned, hands behind his head. "Ah, we're finally getting out! At last..."

"Yeah..." Veneziano murmured unconvincingly. Japan turned to him with a small frown and took a cautious step closer; just in case he was going to do something unpredictable. He was beginning to fear that more than he should have.

"Come on then, hurry up." Germany ordered, walking away from the group by himself. To Japan's surprise, Veneziano quickly followed him, somehow able to keep up with his long strides. Prussia seemed to frown in the darkness and followed after them.

A sudden cry split the air and Japan whipped his head around. "Germany..." he muttered worriedly, glancing at Prussia's wide eyes. Wordlessly, they raced through the cave to where their friends were. "Germany! Ita-kun!" he called desperately.

And then, several yards away, he noticed Germany on the ground, but the man quickly scrambled to his feet. Veneziano was standing a few feet ahead of him, the monster standing behind him. He had a pained look on his face, and tears were forming in his eyes.

"I-ITALY!" Germany bellowed, reaching towards him, but was stopped by Veneziano himself.

"Germany, don't." he breathed, "Just get out of here, right now. Okay? I-I... I need you guys to get the others... I'll distract the thing so you guys can get past... th-then I'll be right behind you..." His whole body was trembling, and his feet seemed to be rooted to the cave floor.

"No!" Germany shouted. "There's no way in hell I'm leaving-"

"You have to-"

"-I don't and I _won't_!" he growled, reaching for the whip on his belt.

Veneziano's eyes went wide and he looked startled. "No- don't Germany, DON'T!" he screamed frantically as the other prepared to attack. "DON'T! JUST GET OUT OF HERE-" He was cut off with a yelp as an invisible force dragged him onto the floor. "A-aow... no..."

Japan frowned, and suddenly noticed the large grey hand protruding form the rocks and gravel of the cave's floor; it's claws were wrapped tightly around his ankle, and it looked like it was trying to pull him down into the earth. "ITALY!" he cried and ran forward, bringing his sword down onto the hand and trying not to stab it through his friend's ankle. "Prussia, go get the others, right away! You too, Germany!" he yelled. "I'll take care of this!"

"Japan-" Prussia warned.

"Prussia, I know what I'm doing, but we need everyone's help! Now, please, go while I take care of this." he said, a little surprised at the authority in his own voice.

Prussia grit his teeth, staring at them in worry before finally giving up. "Alright. We'll be right back, just... just hang on!"

Japan nodded distractedly and once he managed to free Veneziano of the hand, he pulled him to his feet. He yelped as he was suddenly knocked aside into the wall. The force of the blow knocked the wind out of him and he wheezed, struggling to regain his breath.

"JAPAN!" Veneziano screamed, racing over to him and trying to help steady him as the monster approached. "JAPAN! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"

Japan coughed and managed, "Yes... do stop shouting, please, will you?" he murmured weakly, forcing himself to sit up despite the protest from the rest of his body.

He flinched and nodded quickly. "S-sorry," he whispered, eyes flitting between the monster and Japan. He reached for Japan's sword and drew it, panting heavily as he reared towards the monster. Japan was unsure of how to react, but he couldn't do anything to stop him.

Veneziano was yelling indistinctly and slashing at the monster, which seemed to be driven back by the force. He managed to catch part of a shouted phrase, "_-supposed to go like this! You leave them out of this!_" The monster let out an angry roar and attacked back with a such strength that Veneziano was knocked to the cave floor.

He cursed, the grip on Japan's katana tightening as he dragged himself over to stand in front of his friend. Something clouded Japan's vision, and he raised his hand to rest against his head, which was splattered with a warm, sticky liquid. So his head was bleeding...

Veneziano slung Japan's arm over his shoulder and dragged him further back into the cave, panting as he searched the floor for something-

"Found it!" he breathed, pocketing some strange metal piece before turning back to the monster. "Japan, can you move at all? If it hurts to talk, just don't say anything, alright?"

Japan nodded and coughed weakly, trying to clear his throat. "I'll... be fine... I need to help... you fight..." With a great struggle, he lifted himself to his feet, leaning heavily against the wall of the cave and blindly reaching out for his katana. "Ita-kun, please..."

"The others will be back soon. I just have to hold it off until then..." he turned to his friend and gently sat him up against the wall. "Just stay awake, Japan. I need you to stay awake for me. Can you do that?"

Japan laughed hoarsely, closing his eyes. "You underestimate my strength, Ita-kun." He paused choosing his words carefully. "Sometimes as much as I underestimate yours."

The Italian smiled a little in return, though Japan could not tell. "It wouldn't be the first time."

And Japan began to doze off, despite his efforts in trying to keep open his eyes and stay awake at Veneziano's requests. Faintly, he heard surprised yells and shouts; the firing of guns, the clash of metal, the crack of a whip, and the whir of magic energy.

He saw an injured-looking Veneziano being helped by America, while Prussia lifted Japan into his arms, gently carrying him as they set off. He half-heard the conversation going on between them all.

"Isn't there anywhere safe we can take them? we can't just keep fighting like this, it's dangerous..."

"He's right. We need to find a room that can be used as refuge."

A short pause.

"Bruder?"

"Yeah, West, I know. We might as well show 'em all what we've done with the place."

A frown etched his face and he gave up on trying to think, finally slipping into unconsciousness.

* * *

**Aaand there is chapter nine! uvu From now on, what I write will follow a specific timeline I wrote out for the story, instead of sticking to the original HetaOni. But pssssh, you guys already knew that xD Anyways, hope you liked the chapter! Next one will be posted next Sunday/Saturday, school permitting ^^;**

**Reviews welcome~ :3**


	10. IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE PLEASE READ

**ATTENTION IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE PLEASE READ**

Hello everyone! Yes, I'm sorry that this isn't an update. I won't have time to update for a while, so this story will be going on hiatus for a month or two until I can get everything back up again... schoolwork and family issues is kinda interfering with everything.

_BUT!_

New chapters will be posted at the end of November beginning to December! Maybe one in the middle of that period if I'm able to. Thanks again for reading this, and sorry I cannot bring you all updates any faster umu

**ATTENTION IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE PLEASE READ**


	11. Dearest You

Spain was pacing back in forth in the meeting room, ignoring everyone's attempts to calm him down. Because he wouldn't be calm until they found Romano and he was safe and sound and _home. _

He sighed and massaged his temples, trying to think. He had no idea where Romano could be... or his brother, for that matter. Maybe Veneziano knew something, maybe he had a clue...

"SPAIN!" Austria yelled for the nth time, so loudly that it finally cause the Spanish nation to look up. "Spain, before we do anything, you need to calm down. Take some deep breaths..."

Spain shook his head stubbornly. "No!" he exclaimed. "Roma is out there somewhere, an-and he's in danger! I don't know what's going on and that's why I'm so worried..." he trailed off and sighed, burying his head in his hands. "I-I don't know what to do."

Austria sighed sympathetically and walked over, placing a hand on the other's shoulder. "Go see if you can find Veneziano. Try calling him. Anything. Just... don't do this to yourself. It's terrible to see you like this, Spain, it really is."

Spain let out a defeated sigh and nodded. "I... guess so... I'm so scared, I can't even think straight." He pulled out his cell phone and gave his friend a small wave. "I'm going to go now, see if I can find anything... I'll call you in case anything comes up, okay?"

Austria nodded, crossing his arms. "As you should." Spain turned to leave and Austria called out, "And Spain?"

He turned around curiously. "Yeah?"

"Please be careful."

**.~*~. **

Spain exited the meeting building quickly, dialing Veneziano's number as he did. It rang several times, but there was no answer. "Dammit..." he cursed, angrily shutting his phone. "I'll have to look for him... I guess..."

He walked down the steps that lead to the building, contemplating. "Unless he's gone... gone to where, though?" He grit his teeth, pushing his palm against his forehead urgently. "Come on Spain, think! Think to where he could be, where he could have gotten off to..."

He wracked his brain for some sort of memory that might shed some light on their situation, but again, his results were empty. He cursed and kicked at the ground, continuing his walk.

Spain glanced wearily up at the sky. "Send me a sign, or something." he said softly. "Something to let me know he's okay. Please- please, just anything..."

His prayer hung in the air, unanswered and lingering. Spain sighed and glared at the ground. If only he had realized something was wrong sooner, then none of this would have happened.

A faint breeze ruffled his hair and he pulled out his phone again, idly scrolling through the contacts. He stared at Romano's number for a few minutes before putting it away and pulling out the scrap of paper he'd found at his henchman's house.

God, the words seemed so eerily familiar. It scared him. Almost as much as the fact that who or whatever wrote this had gotten to Romano. The breeze was suddenly much stronger now, and it snatched the paper from the nation's hand. Spain reached for it unsuccessfully, and it began to float in the air, following the breeze.

It was almost as if the paper was beckoning him, urging him to follow. There was definitely nothing good about this, and how could he rely on a piece of paper so heavily that he trusted it would lead him to Romano?

Spain followed it anyway.

**.~*~. **

Japan awoke with a stinging pain in his leg, and other areas of his body. He winced, gripping the bedsheets as his eyes fluttered open. The first thing he saw was a pair of gold eyes staring intently back at him.

Startled, he sat up. "I-Ita-"

Veneziano beamed and brought his friend into a hug. "You're awake!" he cried joyously, and Japan noted the relief in his voice. "You're awake..." Veneziano broke the hug and stood up, flashing his friend a grin. "I'm going to go tell the others!" He quickly ran off, leaving Japan frowning after his figure.

He took a few moments to take in the room around him. The room that seemed so familiar to him but unable to be placed at any point in his memory. There were twelve beds around him, in two neat rows. All of them were neatly made with the exception of the ruffled bedding on his own.

There were long tables at the opposite end of the room, and they were lined with chairs where the other nations were sitting. Some of them, anyway. Veneziano was talking to them, and they glanced over at Japan happily before making their way over.

They were all happy and relieved to see he was awake. He received border-line death hugs from Prussia, America and Russia. He was just fine with a simple pat on the shoulder.

Japan got up a while later to explore what had been dubbed the "safe room". And as the name suggested, he did feel quite at ease. There was no presence of malice here, no monsters were going to come in. They could finally rest.

Japan was now settled down in his bed and comfortably reading a book that Veneziano had given him to occupy himself as his magic worked to heal his wounds. Little by little, he was feeling better. Veneziano had strictly forbidden him from doing anything that required too much work as he didn't want the healing to go to waste. After all he wouldn't just be better right away.

He marked his page with a sigh as England turned off the lights. He set the book down and folded his arms across his chest and stared up at the ceiling. he could hear the pounding of rain against the roof of the mansion, and it was strangely calming to him. He glanced over at Veneziano, who had insisted he slept between Japan and Germany.

Japan faintly wondered if the boy was afraid they would leave during the night.

He seemed to be concentrated, even in his sleep. His brows were furrowed, mouth drawn up into a grimace or a frown-Japan wasn't sure which it was. Japan reached over and smoothed the hair sticking to his sweaty forehead. He was probably having a bad dream... The old nation sighed sympathetically and tried to stroke his hair to calm him down when he heard Veneziano emit a small whimper.

Maybe it was just his eyes playing tricks on him, but Veneziano looked so much like Romano in that instant. It was a bit scary. They were brothers of course, but he just looked so much like him in that one instant.

And then that regular goofy smile returned to his face when Japan stroked his hair and he giggled. Even in his dreams, he was like a little puppy.

He retracted his hand with a small smile, pulling the covers up to his chin and closing his eyes, letting sleep overtake his body. He was unbeknownst to how Veneziano's eyes snapped open, amber orbs piercing the night as soon as his body relaxed.

**.~*~. **

Veneziano sat up in his bed, gazing around at his fellow nations. They were all asleep now. He could hear everyone's breaths and distinguish between who was who, just by hearing them. He had heard them so many times before when they were gasping for breath, when the thing's claws were raked across their chests or back.

He shook his head. "Get a hold of yourself," he scolded. "Stop thinking about that. Think about good things. Happy things. Things you need to do."

And so he did.

Veneziano sat there and thought of the happiest things he could. Images of his brother floated into his mind and he smiled softly, tears welling in his eyes. "At least you're safe, fratello." he said softly. "At least you'll be okay."

He tugged at the cuff of his pajama shirt as an idle way to pass time. He couldn't sleep of course, not when he was carrying so many memories with him. He would lose them if that happened, and he couldn't lose any more memories.

Of course he had written them down to preserve them. But Japan had gotten a hold of several of the notes, and then he was left with no choice but to burn them.

"Why are they catching on?" he asked softly, staring up at the ceiling and hoping the pounding rain would answer him. "I thought I was doing everything right."

Tears were beginning to fill his eyes and he forced them not to fall, glaring up hatefully at the ceiling. "You promised not to hurt him if I did everything right, remember? So you can't hurt him. You promised."

But Veneziano knew that promises were only made to be broken. Holy Rome was proof enough of that.

He bit back a growl of frustration and got off his bed and headed over to the bathroom. He needed to calm down. Get a glass of water or something.

As he got inside one of the stalls, staring at the bags under his eyes and his tired reflection, he noticed a cell phone jutting out from one of the cabinets. He opened the cabinet and let the phone drop into his hands. he turned it over in his hands a few times until he finally recognized it.

"Romano," he whispered. He clutched the phone tightly and hugged it to his chest, letting out a shaky breath. Romano's phone. He didn't know why it was here. But it was surely some sort of sign. He smiled softly and flipped the phone open.

Veneziano took a minute to pause and glance around himself, to see if anyone else was there. No one was present. With a strangely giddy smile he sat on the floor of the bathroom and leaned against the door of the stall.

He went to the inbox, and noticed several new messages. They were all numbered. He scrolled down the list until he found the message labeled "1". He put the phone up to his ear and played it.

"_Ciao, baby brother.__" _Veneziano held in a giggle and curled his toes, mentally saying 'hello' back to the recording. "_If you're listening to this, then I guess you're nearing the final stage... I'll try and leave as many of these messages as I can. I don't know how long they will be or how often I can leave them, though. So... yeah." _The elder brother awkwardly cleared his throat. "_I... I love you, I guess... And hopefully, I'll see you soon. Ciao." _

Veneziano set down the phone as the message ended and he let a giddy smile light up his face. For the first time in a long time he let out a real, happy laugh. It was so good to hear his brother's voice again; it was renewing and wonderful.

He closed his eyes and hugged the phone close to his chest. There were other messages to be played and he would listen to all of them. It would help him stay awake. He pressed play on the next message, his whole being glowing with happiness and the need for sleep vanishing the more that he listened to his brother's soothing voice.

* * *

**hEEEY GUYS! Aaaah it's been so long ;A; I'm sorry for not updating... but I think I have all my crap back on track now! Anyways. uwu Here you get to see some happy Feli, cause lord knows he deserves some happy. Also, I saw Rise of the Guardians! Goodness, what an amazing movie. It's safe to say I've joined the fandom. xD **

**But yes. Many mysteries in this chapter, specifically Romano's phone and the piece of paper. That boy is just all over the place! xD Anyways, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, and I will hopefully be able to keep up with regular updates now~**

**Don't forget to review~**


	12. We're Almost There

When Japan awoke the next morning and ventured into the bathroom to take a quick bath before the day was underway, he found a strange sight waiting for him.

Veneziano was curled up on the bathroom floor, sound asleep and a phone clutched to his chest. He looked so utterly content, Japan didn't have the heart to wake him, but knew that it would be best. Besides, sleeping on the floor wasn't really good for backs.

He knelt down and gently shook his friend awake. Veneziano was sitting upright in an instant, tucking the cellphone into the breast pocket of his nightshirt with a yawn.

Japan noticed it looked like Romano's phone but he said nothing.

The Italian got up and stretched, greeting his friend with a smile. "Morning, Japan." he hummed, giving him a cheerful grin.

"Likewise, Ita-kun." he replied with a slight smile. "I am curious as to why you slept on the bathroom floor... is something the matter?" He was careful in his approach. He knew that Veneziano was being troubled by something constantly, by keeping secrets maybe, and Japan didn't want to push it for him.

"Ve... I had a scary dream and came in here to splash cold water on my face. I sat on the floor for a while until I got tired and fell asleep." he shrugged and Japan was so surprised at how smoothly the words flew from his mouth.

"Oh... alright." he said simply before moving out of the stall. "I'm going to go take a bath."  
"You do that. It'll help you relax and feel better," Veneziano called over his shoulder as he stood up and went over to the mirror, examining the bags under his eyes. He decided that it actually would be a good idea to splash some cold water on his face, and did just that, hoping that he could somehow scrub the tiredness of of his face.

He peered at his fatigued expression and managed a small smile. It quickly fell off his face and soon his hands were placed on either side of the sink, gripping it for support. He didn't know why but there was a pit of dread in his stomach.

He realized he was scared.

He had faced death so many times now, seen the deaths of his friends over and over, fought for his life in wars and against that damn monster. So why the hell was it that he was scared right now?

The answer was obvious to him but he refused to acknowledge it.

He tucked the phone in the pocket of his pants, sighing as he left the bathroom for good.

**.~*~.**

Everyone seemed to be in rather cheerful spirits, and Veneziano tried to duplicate their happiness by putting a smile on his face as he went to get his other clothes and change into them. He did this quickly before going over to Germany and Prussia, grinning like a fool. "Buongiorno!"

Germany turned, his shoulders stiff for a second, before they relaxed. "Oh, Italy. you startled me." he frowned and crossed his arms. "You weren't in your bed when I woke up."

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, giggling. "I kinda fell asleep in the bathroom after I went to splash some water on my face..."

Prussia cackled and slapped him on the back. He didn't notice how Veneziano flinched at the action and said, "Geez, you're so scatter-brained. Nearly scared West here half to death, he was crying like a little baby out of worry!"

"I-I was not!" Germany huffed indignantly, face turning an interesting shade of pink.

Veneziano stared at the both of them before he burst out into laughter. Real laughter. Tears gathered in his eyes and he wiped them away, hiccuping as he regained his breath. "You're both so si-silly!"

Germany rolled his eyes, but gave his friend a comforting gaze. It was good to see him happy. He had seemed so sad lately, and it was so refreshing to hear his laugh again, lighting up everyone's faces and hearts with that sound of innocence and happiness.

Just then, Japan emerged from the bathroom, hair slightly damp. He walked over and greeted his friends with a slight bow. "Oh, Japan! that was quick." Veneziano commented.

Japan nodded. "Ah, yes. I believed it should be so, since we should hope to get out of here as soon as we can."

"That's a good idea," said Prussia with a nod.

Germany left his friends briefly to peek into the kitchen. China and France were just finishing up gathering all of the food onto platters for the rest of them. Veneziano glanced over with disappointment that he wasn't able to cook with the two of them.

"We can eat and get the meeting underway soon, then." he said, taking his seat at the table. His friends sat behind him and soon all the nations had sat down, passing the food around to each other and eating ravenously.

As the meeting droned on, Veneziano found himself growing bored. This conversation had continued too many times for his liking. He held in a sigh, trying not to look as uninterested as he felt.

He'd heard this all before, he could recite every word of every conversation from memory. When silence filled the room, he knew at last, that it was his turn to speak. He fidgeted, trying to appear nervous to them. "... I have to talk to you guys about something," he said softly.

As expected, the others encouraged him to speak up. Their conversation went as it had last time and before long, they were headed to the basement.

_'We're almost there.'_

**.~*~. **

Spain kept walking around, following the little piece of paper as it floated through the air. It always stayed just out of his reach, going higher into the air every time he tried to grab it. So he patiently followed it as it led him along, until he couldn't recognize where he was anymore.

It was some sort of expanse forest. Trees blocked the view of the sun, but it was beginning to set already. He knew that he had to hurry. He didn't want to be here when that happened..

The paper was still gliding along in the air, straying a few yards ahead of him. Spain collected his wits and raced after it, not wanting to think of what would happen if he lost sight of it.

As he continued on through the forest, he began to see the faint outline of something in the distance. It looked like a house or a mansion, but... it was much bigger than that. He made it out of the forest and to a large clearing.

And in front of him was a mansion. No, castle was more accurate. It was huge, and made of gray stone bricks. There were tapestries hanging from two pillars of the castle, with flowers stitched into them. He guessed it meant something important... but he didn't know what.

He walked ahead towards the large door of the structure and to his amazement, it slowly lowered. He stared at it for a few seconds before he briskly walked across the wood, not wanting for it to close before he could.

And just as he stepped inside, the door began to rise again, closing with a bang.

Spain stopped walking and panted slightly as he gazed around the area. There was a large, marble staircase ahead of him, with two hallways that led left and right, each with their own door at the end.

He walked up to the staircase and collapsed, sighing. He was tired from all that walking. He glumly let his head rest against his hand. He had no idea what to do now that he was here. He shouldn't have followed that piece of paper.

His head snapped up. Where was the paper? Spain looked around frantically and only calmed when he saw the paper above him, floating in mid-air. "You sure are strange, to lead me here with no explanation." he laughed. "But maybe I'm stranger for following you... and talking to you," he added, rubbing the back of his neck.

The paper slowly descended, and Spain gently reached out his hand. The paper landed in it, and Spain closed his fist around it, watching as it briefly glowed purple. He opened his fist and read the message on the piece of paper.

In a familiar scrawl of messy writing, there was a simple greeting, instead of the foreboding message that had been there earlier.

_"Hello, Spagna."_

It took all of Spain's willpower not to scream.

He slowly tucked the piece of paper into his pocket and began to walk up the marble stairs, hands shaking. Who the hell wrote that? And how? Magic? He deemed that it was the possibility that made the most sense- but the person who wrote it...

He didn't have any time to think it over before he heard a beastly growl from behind him. He whipped around and saw at the bottom of the staircase, a gray hulking monster, with head and black eyes too big for its body. He had seen it before, that he was sure of...

"Dios, I didn't bring my ax!" he cursed to himself, stumbling back up the stairs as the thing took a step forward. And suddenly, before him, a large ax materialized. Spain knew that it was his. He paused and leaned down to pick it up. He saw a red ribbon tied around the tip of the handle with a note attached. The same handwriting from before.

_"Use it well, Spagna. Get rid of the thing and then come find me."_

Spain smiled a bit and put the new scrap of paper in his pocket. Typical... He raised his ax with a grin, motioning for the monster to come forward. "Come on, I don't have all day. There's someone waiting for me!"

* * *

**Woot, another chapter! *O* I had a bit of difficulty writing this chapter for some reason... It just didn't flow very well with me -_- Anyways, updates will be scattered for a while here, since it's Advent season and I won't be online as much as usual. But I should be able to get one up ever week or two~**

**Reviews are welcome and appreicated~!**


	13. The Innocent and the Guilty (PART 1)

Spain was a very patient man. When he needed to wait for something, he would find a task to occupy himself and forget all about what he was eagerly waiting for. But when it came to Romano, or, more specifically, his safety, he was much less patient. He would not stand to waiting if his henchman was in trouble.

So that's why he was frustrated that this damn monster wouldn't just die already so that he could go and find Romano.

He swung his axe at its body repeatedly, but with each cut, it seemed to reform. He knew he had to finish this soon; he was already getting tired, his body weak from exhaustion. He didn't know why he felt so weak, though. He could do this for hours on end. What was different now, though? What had changed?

I don't have time to think about that right not, he thought. I just have to hurry up and find Romano and bring him back home.

Determined now, he began to swing his halberd with more force, his footing a bit steadier now. "Come on, is that all you have?" he growled, following up with a haughty laugh. He hadn't fought like this in so long, it was a bit refreshing.

And suddenly he was knocked off his feet and thrown into the opposite wall with a loud yelp. Coughing, the wind knocked out of him, he staggered to his feet, reaching for his ax again. He was cornered now, with the beast towering above him.

Pulse racing and breaths ragged, he tightened the grip on his ax. Maybe if he could just dive between its legs and then cut down its back-

"_Its forehead_," A voice suddenly said, and it sounded like it was right in his ear. He looked around for the source of the voice, but found no one. Two hands were placed firmly on his shoulders and he tensed. The voice spoke again, "_Aim at its forehead. That's its weakness."_

The hands moved to grip his axe as well, and he felt someone pressing against his body. He didn't know who it was, if they were real, or an apparition. But either way, he listened. The hands guiding his swift movements, slashed his ax across the thing's forehead and its forehead sliced open.

The thing began to fade until it was opaque, transparent, then gone.

His shoulders relaxed and he sighed once more, setting down his axe. The presence of whoever it was was gone now. He had a pretty good feeling though, on who had visited him. That only inspired him to move forward.

Spain retrieved his weapon and started up the staircase again, at a fast pace. He stopped right at the top when words began to appear on the banister of the fine staircase, with another purple glow. He watched with fascination as words began to appear in a lovely purple color, the writing hasty and messy.

"_If you're already done take the door ahead of the staircase. You should be reading this so it means you're probably already there. Hurry the fuck up-"_

The writing stopped there, and the purple liquid suddenly began to start dripping down the banister, trickling down the stairs. It seemed to be purple ink, on closer inspection.

The writing was suddenly back, and even harder to make out this time. "_Sorry. Writing this takes a lot out of me. Can't stay for long. Hurry up. Follow the sound of the violin._"

Spain frowned, eyebrow raised as he brushed his hand over the writing. "Violin?"

And then, as if on cue, the distinct sound of a violin chord pierced the air, a scream mixed in with it.

With a yelp the man startled and fell back onto the ground, almost tumbling down the stairs in the process. Silence. Then another note mixed with a scream. They were in perfect sync together. He wasn't sure if it was horror or relief, but Spain realized that the screams weren't from real people, but somehow they must have been incorporated into the violin so that they match together.

"This place is so strange." he said to himself softly before standing up again with hs axe and following the sound of the strangely harmonizing screams.

**.~*~.**

Walking through the long and unfamiliar corridors, chasing the sound of music, gave Spain little time to really think about his situation. But when he really started to, he began to feel nervous; even a little scared.

He was in an unfamiliar place with at least one monster that could do a lot of damage to him; there were screams and violin notes coming from almost nowhere; someone was writing to him and somehow trying to get to him, to find him, seek out his help perhaps; and he still had to find Romano.

The thought of his former henchman made him smile slightly even as screams rang through the air. He would find him and they would go home together, happy as they ever were. He would hold him close and they would go out and harvest the tomatoes and even hang out with Veneziano, France, and Prussia and the other nations.

They could go home. Together.

Home.

That prospect somehow made Spain feel lonelier than he had felt in a very long time.

And finally he came to a large wooden door and opened it. A winding glass staircase was all that occupied the room. It led up, to where light shone through the glass of the roof; and he now believed this to be an observatory of some sort. He then looked downwards, to where the staircase turned wooden and guided trespassers into darkness.

The grip on his weapon tightened and he headed down the latter passage.

Walking down the staircase, Spain tread very lightly in fear that some of the wood was rotting and could break under his feet and send him falling to who knows where. When he finally reached the bottom of the stairs, he was so deep that the light from above did not shine down, immersing him in pitch black.

He tread cautiously, axe forced in front of him while he tried to encourage his eyes to adjust to the darkness clouding his vision. After a while of walking he could finally make out what looked to be the bars of a small prison cell.

The music was coming from here. Someone in the cell was playing the violin. It suddenly stopped and he heard it being set down. The figure sank to the ground and Spain heard a shaky sigh emitted from the person.

He approached the cell and could make out the faint line of a man. He was huddled against the wall, arms wrapped around his knees which were pulled close to his chest. His head was bowed and body shaking. He could distinctly make out the small curl protruding from the top of his head.

Joy and fear filled his heart and he let out a laugh which came out more like a sob. "Romano!"

.~*~.

Veneziano smiled sweetly at his friends who were standing in the cell. Their glares bore into him with such confusion and anger; maybe even hatred. He understood why; but he didn't care. It was laughable, really.

"It was your fault for not noticing," he said pointedly, another laugh escaping him.

"Italy! Let us out of here!" Germany bellowed. Under normal circumstances, Veneziano would have been terrified. But no, definitely not this time.

"Make me," he snapped, clenching his fist. "You're all just going to have to stay here for now, alright? I have a lot of plans to finish before I let you guys out."

"Why are you doing this?" France cried angrily, but he looked more worried than anything. "What are you planning to do?"

The Italian's eyes narrowed. He opened his mouth to retort before falling silent again. Finally, he straightened himself up and shook his head. "It's something you wouldn't understand. I have to do this."

"And leave us here to die?" China called bluntly.

Veneziano shook his head. "No! I'm..." he paused, tapping his chin. He wasn't really sure it he would leave them there. "I will come back and let you out," he said. "If I can get my legs to move by the time I'm done."

"What the hell are you going to do?" England growled, gripping the bars tightly. "You know what happened last time? Just fucking- ask us for help! We're not going to just leave you alone!"

His eyes narrowed and he regarded the blond coldly. "That doesn't matter now. I don't need your help. If all goes well, you'll be back home within the hour... with my brother." he added the last part loud enough for them all to hear.

He blinked a few times and stared at America. "America, if anything happens or goe wrong, I'm looking to you to protect everyone. I don't think that I can do it. Not anymore... so if you see my big brother, tell him I love him and take care of and protect him and just make sure he's okay."

His words came out in a rush, and America slowly nodded, swallowing heavily. "Y-yeah... I promise. I'll take care of him..."

Veneziano nodded briefly, and then the strange smile came onto his lips again. Now that was finished, he had a job to do. "Arrivederci," he called over his shoulder with a sneer as he left the room. "and good luck."

* * *

**So... this chapter's kind of rushed but I had to get it up today. Sorry if it's not quality, but I found out that the admin of the .com blog was killed in a car accident last night... so I may be going on a short hiatus again... sorry.**

**As always, thanks for reading this, guys. If you want to read something happier, maybe check out my RotG fanfic. But I don't feel like anything happy for now anyways...**

**Fuck. Sorry for rambling. See you next chapter and don't be afraid to leave a review.**


	14. The Innocent and the Guilty (PART 2)

Veneziano sighed to himself as he walked up the stairs to the second floor. He had both metal pieces. He was going to go get the key and everyone would get out. But still, he felt so sad. He should feel happy that he was getting everyone out...

But he knew why. It was easy to say why he didn't feel any happiness. He would have to stay behind after all... unless his brother tried meddling again.

Glowering at the memory he clenched his fist around the metal piece he was holding, cutting his skin and making blood trickle down the trinket. "Every choice comes with a sacrifice, Roma." he said softly, staring up at the ceiling. "There's nothing you can do this time. I won't let you."

He half expected his brother to reply; to come through the front door of the mansion, walk upstairs and slap him for being such an idiot. He'd yell at him and call him names and then he would hug him and kiss him and hold him so close it would be hard to breathe but neither of them would really mind it because they would just be so happy to see each other again.

With a start, Veneziano realized that he was crying.

Hiccuping softly as he blinked away tears he raised a hand to wipe at his eyes. He had to be strong. For his brother. If anything, at least he would get out alive... wherever he was... The contract hadn't really mentioned where his brother was being kept.

He guessed that it was another mansion somewhere. The monster had many realms and many places to hide, that bastard. And the Italian was determined to expose and stop it before it could do any more harm to his family that had already been falling apart before all this nonsense happened.

Veneziano regained his composure and started upstairs again. "Stop getting distracted," he scolded himself. "You're doing this for them. It's worth it. You don't want to be alone, but you know that this is necessary. Sacrifice is always necessary."

Again, as he was ascending up the stairs, he stopped; expecting his brother to appear and retort and challenge that statement. He turned briefly and scolded himself for getting disappointed over him not appearing.

The Italian continued upstairs until he finally reached the bookcase on the fourth floor room where the mochi used to hide. He didn't know what happened to it, but he just hoped that it was safe now, wherever it was.

He inserted both of the pieces and stood still in place as he ground rumbled and quaked. Finally it stopped and he reemerged, seeing the staircase leading to the fifth floor was finally there.

Taking a deep breath, he started up the staircase. He didn't need anyone to help him with the puzzle. He knew that the monster would give him admittance. He swallowed shakily and silently prayed to whoever would listen, that they would make sure his brother was okay.

.~*~.

America was currently sitting on the ground of the cell, shaking the box that Veneziano claimed he had been unable to open. He'd entrusted him to make sure Romano was alright... and he couldn't very well do that if he was still trapped in the cell, now could he?

He frowned, banging his fist on top of it. "There has to be some sort of way to open this. It was obviously important to him!"

Germany frowned and crossed his arms. "America, how could you say that? It was a trap to lure us into here... there's nothing important about it."

He shook his head. "I won't accept that."

Canada sighed, hugging Kumajirou tightly. "Come on America," he shook his head, "there's nothing we can do right now. We just have to wait."

"I respect your opinion dear brother, but I just as respectfully ignore it because I refuse to give up." America said cheerfully as he tried prying open the lid with his teeth.

England groaned and rolled his eyes. "America you're so impossible."

"Impossibly determined and heroic!"

France had to suppress a small chuckled as he leaned against the back wall of the cell, eyes focused on the wall. He thought for a second he was imagining things, but he saw a strange purple liquid appear on the wall. He blinked a few times, trying to clear his vision. "Guys?" he asked uncertainly as it began to form into a letter, and then another letter, and slowly began to form a word.

"France, we're trying to stop America from breaking his teeth off, can this wait?" China asked over his shoulder.

Russia had turned to France and looked at what he was staring at with mild surprise. "England, the wall is writing to you." he informed cheerfully, tapping the Brit on the shoulder with his pipe.

Prussia's eyebrows furrowed. "The hell?"

England stared at the letters on the wall curiously, moving closer to the bars to make out the words appearing. The purple, inky letters on the wall spelled out "_ENGLAND_" and more words were beginning to appear.

"_BREAK THE SEAL ON THE BOX WITH YOUR MAGIC. CANADA. LET KUMAJIROU SLIP THROUGH THE BARS. HURRY. STOP VENE_"

The words stopped there, and the nations were silent for several long moments. The purple words were slowly starting to drip and England realized that it was ink. Purple ink. He muttered a curse and snatched the box from America's hands, ignoring the cry of protest from he other nation.

He turned it a few times, staring at the seal on top of it. It was written in blood... He shuddered and set it down on the ground again, placing one hand firmly on it. Concentrating, he muttered an unbinding spell and with a flash of green light.

The lid of the box easily fell off and slid onto the floor. The other nations crowded around him, sans Canada, who was trying to get Kumajirou go through the bars. Inside the box was a clock, a letter, and what looked like a folded up map.

England nabbed both pieces of paper before anyone else, briefly skimming over the letter. His eyes widened and he cursed aloud, "Fuck! We have to hurry and go, right now!" He tucked both papers into his breast pocket and stood up abruptly, grabbing the clock with him.

"Why? What's wrong?" Japan asked cautiously.

England ran a hand through his messy hair and sighed shakily. "He... fuck, what an idiot! Romano and his brother are in great danger. We... we're going to have to split up. Romano is in another mansion... and we have to get there before... before..." he trailed off, shaking his head.

He took out the large map, his eyes briefly running over it. Japan glanced over his shoulder with him. "It looks like a large circle..." he commented blandly, not seeing the real interest and danger in it.

"It's a transportation circle," England replied, turning to everyone in the group so they could all hear him. "It will transport us to wherever Romano is. I have directions." he waved the letter in the air now, before returning it to his pocket. "Either way, we have to hurry. Let's choose who'll go and find Romano and who will go after Veneziano."

"How do you even know the monster will let you teleport out of here?" China asked, raising an eyebrow pointedly.

"There's a spell to override it, but it will only take us to another one of his realms." he replied. "But our window of time is very small and is closing as we speak so WHO is going?" he yelled angrily. "I will have to open the portal, and I will take three of you with me. After the rest of you find Italy, you have to give him these directions so he can transport you all to where my group will be."

America stood up. "I'll go find Romano with you."

Prussia moved towards America. "Me too." As much as he was worried about Veneziano, he had a feeling Spain would be there; just because he was always so attached to Romano it wasn't unlike him to get caught in situations with the Italian.

"I will as well," said Japan. "Germany, we will leave it to you to take care of Ita-kun. Please... bring him back safe." he offered him a small smile which Germany returned with a nod.

England was already drawing the circle on the floor that was needed. He finished quickly and stood up, marking the four points on it. "Everyone, stand on one of these and join hands." He turned to Germany and handed him the directions. "Hurry. Sorry to put pressure on you but we're depending on you if we want either of them to make it out alive."

"I promise I'll bring him back," he said firmly, tucking the paper into his own pocket. The four stood on the circle and joined hands. With a word from England the circle began to glow.

"Good luck, and stay safe!" America yelled, before the four of them disappeared in a flash of light.

Canada stared at the place his brother had just been standing and sighed. Once America's mind was set, there was nothing that he could do. Kumajirou was standing outside the cell door, just about to open it. He eyed his owner curiously, who merely smiled. "Let's go, Kuma."

.~*~.

Spain saw he figure in the cell stiffen when he called out his name. "Romano!" he repeated, louder this time. "Romano, is that you?"

The figure shifted in discomfort and there were a few raspy coughs before he finally got a reply. "Wh-what the hell took you so long... you stupid tomato bastard..."

He felt tears of relief spring up in his eyes and he laughed, dropping his halberd and securing his hands around the bars. "Roma... Romano... y-you're okay!" He shook his head, more tears in his eyes beginning to form. "Dios Mio, I was so worried about you..."

The figure stood shakily and limped its way over. "Heh... you worry too damn much, Spain." He could make out the distinct face of his henchman, who was leaning against the bars and staring into the other's eyes. "Have a little more faith in me, would you?"

Spain smiled sadly and extended his hand through the bars to run his fingers through he other's hair, earning what sounded like a sigh of contentment. "You know I'm always worried about you, Roma... you're just so reckless that I can't help but get worried, you know?"

Romano scoffed. "Well quit crying and get me out of here. The door isn't locked, but it can only be opened from the outside."

Nodding, Spain groped his way around until he felt the latch of the door and turned it. The cell door opened with a creak and seconds later, the Italian wobbled his way out of it. He leaned against the door frame to find some sort of support for his body, and Spain could now tell he was in really bad shape.

"Hold on Roma, you're injured." he said, placing a hand on the other's chest to stop him from moving. He noticed a dark cloak draped over his shoulders and raised an eyebrow. But he didn't comment on it. "Let me carry you."

Romano snorted and pushed off his hand. "I can walk, stupid." Of course he couldn't walk well, but he could to some extent.

"No," Spain said sternly, grabbing his weapon and strapping it to his back. He then grabbed Romano's hands and guided them to his shoulders. "Wrap your arms around my neck, por favor." he requested. It earned a few incoherent grumbles from his former charge but Romano complied anyways, pressing his face into Spain's neck while his arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

Spain gently lifted him up into his arms, with surprising ease. He blinked and stared at Romano in confusion, who made no comment, avoiding eye contact. "Roma..." he started cautiously, "when was the last time you ate?"

Romano said nothing, face pensive as they continued through the darkness. After a few minutes, he shrugged and huddled a bit closer. "Dunno. A while, I guess."

Spain nodded nervously and sped up his pace a bit. He had to get them both out of here soon. He obviously needed to go to the hospital; or a doctor, at the very least. "Okay. We'll get you some food as soon as possible. Okay, Roma?"

He shook his head. "Nah. Can't eat. Not hungry." he replied shortly.

The Spanish nation frowned but said nothing, merely continuing on. He felt his way through the dark until he finally found the banister of the wood staircase. He smiled and started up the stairs carefully. He was carrying Romano now, too, and even if he felt very light, the extra weight could still break the steps under them. He suppressed a shudder.

Romano seemed to have sense the other's distress, because his arms stiffened in the hold they had around Spain's neck. "Don't drop me," he muttered threateningly.

Spain laughed jovially and petted his henchman's hair. "I won't, I promise."

He heard a distinct grumble of disbelief but the rest of the trip up the stairs was silent. When Spain finally got out of the darkness and back onto the first floor, he blinked and looked where the other staircase used to be. Gone. It was... gone.

He looked around the room for a few minutes before Romano yanked on his ear to get the other's attention. "Hey! Dammit, pay attention."  
Spain rubbed his sore ear and laughed apologetically. "Sorry..." He gently set Romano down, and the first thing he noticed was his feet. He was barefoot. His feet were scraped up, little cuts on them. The cuffs of his pants were tattered and torn. Upon looking Romano over, he noticed he had a lot of little scratches... some much bigger than others. His uniform had many scrapes and rips too.

Spain furrowed his brow and took Romano's hand gingerly. "Roma... what happened to your shoes?" he asked, fingers feeling under the palm and knew that yes, there was a large cut across the palm of his hand.

Romano looked irritated for a brief moment before shrugging. "Outgrew them I guess. They were too tight. Uncomfortable."

"You-you... outgrew them?" asked Spain with disbelief. Just how long had he been here that he had to outgrow his shoes?

Romano nodded, not looking the least bit concerned. "Uh-huh." He paused and placed a hand to his ear as if listening for something. "The other's will be here soon. We have to hurry." He grabbed Spain's hand and began to lead him out of the room.

"Huh- the others? Wait, wait a second!" he protested.

Romano ignored him.

Spain shook his head and observed Romano carefully as they walked; the way his shoulders seemed to tremble with every step, the various cuts and scrapes littering his body, and began feeling his heart drop. It begged the question:

How long had he been here?

And even more importantly, what had he been doing?

* * *

**Hey guys! This got finished a lot earlier than expected, so I decided to upload it today. My RotG story also updated today if you want to read it~ But enough of that. Next chapter, I want to focus on solely one group. Should I focus on the mansion where Spain and Romano are, or where the others are with Veneziano? With possible insight to Austria or another outside nation hoho u v u**

**Anyways, thanks for reading this chapter! I won't be going on hiatus after all. I feel a lot better now, and there's a fundrasier for Jessie's funeral, which has over 4000 dollars raised, last I checked. You might wanna check that out too.**

**Don't forget to review~**


	15. Rumbling Evil and Faint Good

Germany felt very tense as he and the rest of his group made their way out of the basement and up the stairs. Everyone else was as silent and scared as he was. They were all nervous; they didn't really want to think about what Veneziano was doing right now.

They conducted a quick, but thorough search of the first three floors before arriving at the top floor. Canada gasped in surprise. "There's another staircase!" he exclaimed in disbelief.

"It seems Italy knows a lot of secrets about the mansion that we didn't know," Russia observed, and Germany caught the accusing undertone in his voice.

He turned on him and demanded, "What are you trying to say?"

Russia merely shrugged, giving the other a thin-lipped smile. "I am only saying he seems to know much more than we do."

The blond narrowed his eyes but said no more. Neither did Russia.

"Come on, let's hurry up," China urged, already starting up the stairs. "We have to hurry up, before he does something regrettable."

"You sound like Japan," France commented idly, the hint of a smile on his face and in his eyes. China rolled his eyes, chuckling slightly. France turned to his friends and nodded. "But really, come. We must hurry."

The five nations headed up the stairs in silence, shocked by the bloody handprints above the doorway ahead of them. Canada moved closer, despite his polar bear's hiss of warning. He brushed his hands over the wall, frowning. A few flakes of it fell to the blood, and under that, he could see purple ink. The purple ink from earlier.

A hand was placed on his shoulder. France was giving him a concerned gaze, pulling him away gently. "Canada, I don't want you to see this." he said softly. He knew that he had been through worse before, but still, he had that sort of protectiveness over him.

He nodded in reply, saying nothing else, but hugging Kumajirou tighter as they entered another room with bloody numbers across the floor. "One through twelve," Canada murmured. He glanced at the door in the corner of the room, which was open. He had a strong feeling that it shouldn't be.

Russia approached the door with a frown, tapping it with his sword cane. "Interesting," he mused to himself. "We'd better hurry. I hear yelling."

Just as the pale blond man said that, the floor shook violently and a green light flashed through the door. They heard an indistinct shout, and it was no doubt Veneziano's voice. "Italy!" Germany cried, running past Russia as soon as he heard the voice.

"Wait up!" China cried, rushing after him with the others close behind. "Don't do anything foolish, Germany!"

The Germanic nation obviously ignored him, running through the thin corridor that, lined with a cell door that kept in more hideous monsters. Canada grimaced, readying his bow. There was a door at the end of the hall and Germany slammed his shoulder into it, easily knocking it down. "Italy!"

They all rushed into the room, Germany entering first and pushing the others back as soon as they entered. A giant monster stood in front of them; but its back was to them, while Veneziano stood facing the monster. He was covered in bruises and cuts, and he growled in a way that was much unlike himself.

"I told you I won't let you win," he snapped, venom in his voice. "I'll save him, wherever you're keeping him. I'll find the map, I'll get out of here and I'll take everyone with me! I'll END this!"

He screamed and spread his arms out wide, a book clutched in his left hand; a sword formed and materialized in the other hand. He panted, as if it had taken quite the amount of energy out of him to do that.

The sword in Veneziano's hand glowed red, a shimmering aura surrounding it, and spreading to the rest of his body. Soon, his eyes too, began to take on a red tint. The room began to shake again, and the nations had to grab into the doorframe to support themselves.

Out of the corner of his eye, France saw Canada drawing an arrow and lining it up with his bow. "What are you doing?" he hissed.

Canada gave him a stern glance, placing a finger to his lips as a request of silence. His guardian frowned, but nodded, his hand going to the hilt of his sword on his belt.

Canada aimed with careful precision, and felt a strange surge of power in him. He aimed the arrow at the monster's head. It still did not notice him. But it would soon. He concentrated for many moment longer as Veneziano's body kept glowing, the aura getting more and more intense and finally-

He released the arrow. It shot past Russia's ear, above China's head, and nearly grazed Germany's cheek. They all started, staring at Canada in shock. But he was focused on the monster, which had let out a sudden shriek.

Veneziano's glow faded around his body; his sword still glowed red, but dimmer now. He turned to them in shock, eyes and mouth wide, the Italian making noises like a fish gasping for breath. "Y-You-?"

Canada nodded, pushing past his friends to step into the room. "Yes, Veneziano. Me. _Us._" Quick as lightning, the monster turned around with a growl. Canada shot an arrow into its eye just as quick. Another shriek, and a thick, gray goop began pouring from the wound.

"You really think you could do this without us?" Russia questioned. "Going off on your own... you're so silly. You haven't learned anything, have you?"

The red-head seemed to snap out of his daze at that comment and he glared sharply at the five of them, specifically Russia.

"Point is, we're here to help." China said with a grin.

Germany took a few steps forward, staring at his friend in disbelief. "Italy... you really think you can do this without our help? We're your friends. You could have at least told us, you know... We're here for you..."

Veneziano shook his head wildly, as if the idea of assistance from others was unheard of. And to him, maybe it was. "No, no, no , no you can't! I-I have... to..." He looked around the group more closely and his eyes widened. "Where are the others? Did-"

"England transported them to a different place. The instructions... were from your brother." Germany held out the folded piece of paper from earlier. The other looked at it like it was an omen of death.

"R-Ro-" he stumbled back, tears springing up in his eyes. "Roma... no..." He shook his head fiercely, letting out a choked sob.

"Now isn't the time to make Italy cry, Germany." France tutted lightly, going over and placing a comforting hand on his younger brother's shoulder. "Now's the time to help him." He glanced at the monster, who had been still this whole time.

France glared at it, and unsheathed his sword. "If this bastard wants a fight, then he's got one."

"No! No, you can't!" Veneziano cried, his protests ignored as his fellow nations pulled out their weapons.

"We'll see about that," China shrugged, withdrawing his sword and charging at the monster with a fierce battle cry. Russia followed; the tip of his pipe glowed icy blue and he shot ice at the monster's feet, freezing it to the ground. It struggled and moved as much as it could, but it was, quite literally, frozen in place.

China took this opportunity to slash at its undamaged eye. Black liquid burst from the wound and it let out a raspy scream. Veneziano took a dizzying step back. He stared the others, who were all attacking it in turn. Germany cracked his whip ferociously, Russia kept freezing it, France and China slashed at it, and Canada attacked its vitals with his arrows.

He stared in shock and confusion as the monster began to grow weaker before his eyes. Until finally, it began to disappear, and for good. He shook his head in disbelief again, running a hand through his hair. Was it really possible?

He had to stop getting so confused... this was scaring him. No, he had to forget them and go find Romano... right? Conflicting thoughts raged inside him, and it was quenched by Germany, who snapped him out of his daze with a simple shake of his shoulder.

"Hey. You alright?" he asked softly, concern written all over his face.

He managed a weak nod and croaked out, "Uh-huh."

Germany nodded and let out a sigh of relief. "Good..." he muttered, before raising his head to glare at Veneziano and slap him.

Everyone gasped and immediately advanced on him. But Veneziano, holding up the hand not cupping his cheek, shook his head as a signal for them to stop. "It's fine. I deserve it." he said bluntly, raising his slightly teary gaze to meet Germany's. But it was no less hardened than earlier. "I'm sorry. It was really stupid of me to run off like that." He paused, suddenly blinking back tears. "I-I didn't think... But he said I had to do it alone..."

Germany shook his head and pulled Veneziano into a tight hug, which was gratefully returned. "I don't care who said that. You have us to help you." Veneziano nodded uncertainly; he believed that there would be consequences for his actions of having help, though.

"Come on, we should hurry." China spoke up, "We have to get to the others as soon as possible. We'll have no idea of what shape they're in until we get there. For all we know, they could..." he trailed off grimly and shook his head.

Canada nodded in agreement. "China's right, eh. We have to get there soon, and fast." He plucked the paper from Germany and showed it to Veneziano. "Can you use this to get us there?" he asked.

Veneziano separated from Germany and grabbed the instructions, skimming his eyes over it with interest. They light up and he let out a faint gasp. "This is ingenious ... did he really come up with this all by himself?" he inquired.

Russia shrugged. "We believe that it was your brother who came up with it. It was in that box you put in the cell."

Veneziano lowered his eyes to the floor, but didn't protest the claim. "Yeah... sorry about that, by the way." He went back to looking at the map. "I should have known he found some way to get it in there." He let out a bit of a laugh. "He's a crafty bastard."

France raised an eyebrow, nodding slowly. "There was also a letter that came with it... England has it."

The red-head frowned lightly. His eyes still focused on the paper, he set it down on the ground. "I can teleport us there. But I need you guys to guard me while I do it. As soon as I do this, the cage is going to break and the monsters will be let out... We'll only have about a two minutes to get out of here, and it'll take me a minute to get up the portal." He looked at the others unsteadily. "Do you trust me?"

Canada nodded and moved to stand in front of him, drawing another arrow from his quiver. "Of course we do, Italy. Or at least, I do. I'll trust you with my life."

France moved next to Canada and extended his sword. "No one could have said it any better."

Russia and China moved in place next to the other two with silent nods. Veneziano looked up at Germany. There was one spot left for him in the circle. Hesitantly, he extended his hand, a hopeful gaze on his face. It only took Germany a few seconds before he reassuringly took the hand and stepped into the circle.

Veneziano began drawing the circle. A large rumbled shook the floor and he almost lost his balance, if not for Germany's hand holding his shoulders in place. He gave his friend a grateful smile and continued drawing the circle. He felt almost content now.

_'Don't worry, fratello. I'm coming.' _

* * *

**I finally finished it, and decided to just upload this chapter before Christmas break. I won't be updating for probably another week (maybe two) but hey, you know how Christmas is. Also, there is a poll on my profile page, and if you like RoTG, I would strongly encourage you to vote, as it will decide what story I write next.**

**Happy Holidays everyone! Reviews are great Christmas presents, btw~**


	16. Romano The Bewildering

**Sorry for the late chapter! I got caught up in holidays and the play I'm in -u-;;; Hope you enjoy~ The next chapter will hopefully be up sooner~**

* * *

Bright light flooded Japan's eyes and he felt like he was being sucked and stretched through a long, thin tube. But finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the sensations and light faded away. He opened his eyes to gaze at his surroundings.

They were obviously in another mansion. The walls were gray bricks, old and lined with tapestries and splattered with dirt and what could easily have been dried blood. Japan turned around to see a large, marble staircase leading up to splitting corridors.

He looked towards his companions. Prussia had his sword drawn, arm hanging at his side. America was glancing over one of the sheets with England. He approached, tapping England on the shoulder.

England frowned as he turned around, looking like he was going to argue; but he relaxed when he saw that it was Japan. "Yes?"

"Shouldn't we get going soon?"

He rolled his eyes. "I know that! I'm trying to get this figured out!"

Prussia put a hand on Japan's shoulder. "Just ignore him. He's really tense."

The Japanese nation nodded as he stepped back. "I can see that..."

Prussia's eyes flickered towards the stairs. He noticed the same purple liquid from the cell they were trapped in on one of the banisters. It still looked like it was fresh... He frowned and pointed to it, then walked towards it. He motioned for Japan to follow.

The duo walked partially up the staircase to inspect the strange puddle. Kneeling down next to the puddle, Japan dipped his finger in it, rubbing the substance between his fingers. "It's ink," he said after sniffing it. "At least, I think so."

Prussia frowned again. "Someone have a writing accident?"

Japan shrugged and stood up. "One can only imagine."

England looked up from his map to glare at the two of them. "Don't go wandering off, got it?"

Prussia groaned dramatically and rolled his eyes. "We came here to find Brother Dearest and Spain! Shouldn't we be looking for them instead of sitting around on our hands and waiting for something to happen?"

England growled in irritation, sweeping his eyes across the paper one last time before shoving it into his pocket. "Fine. Then let's go," He quickly moved past Prussia and Japan, America trying to catch up with his fast strides. "Come on, let's go!"

"Sheesh," Prussia grumbled.

They all walked in silence as England lead them along; they went up the staircase and to the left, red-carpeted corridor. It was long, and dark. The Brit murmured something and cast a light from his hand, inspecting the floor. "Follow me," he said. "and be wary."

Heeding his advice, the three continued looking around the hall as they walked down it. Japan didn't seem to find anything out of the ordinary... until he reached the end of the hallway.

The path forked and the four of them stood in the direct crossroad of the paths. England was muttering to himself; Prussia was groaning and rolling his eyes; and America was uncharacteristically quiet.

Japan was going to ask America if everything was alright; but he was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. Instantly, they all turned to the direction where it had come from. To the left of the splitting hallways, they could vaguely make out a figure. England flashed the light in that direction.

The figure reacted, pressing themselves against the wall to avoid the light. England's brows furrowed in frustration. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded.

Immediately the figure seemed to loosen up. "England?"

The blond stared at the figure skeptically. The voice, to Japan, seemed so familiar. But he couldn't quite place it.

Prussia didn't even wait before bounding over with a grin. "Spain! Is that you, man?"

The cheery laugh that met his response confirmed the groups' suspicions. "Prussia! So good to see you again, my friend!" He emerged from the shadows, stepping into England's magic light. He was clutching his axe with both hands but still had the most cheerful expression. "And you all as well! Oh, not so much you, England." he added.

England began to sputter out an insult but America cut him off. "Spain, it's good to see you too! But... where's Romano?" Remembering Veneziano's promise, he wanted to get right down to the point.

Spain's smile seemed to droop a little at the question. "R-Roma? Oh, uh... he's around..."

Japan frowned slightly. "I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific, Spain.  
Spain looked positively nervous as he tried to speak again. "W-well, he, uh-"

"Spaaaaaaaaaaaaiiinnnnnn!"

The Spanish nation muttered a curse as the aforementioned nation walked towards them. "Hey, Roma..."

Romano stood there in the light, hands on his hips, glaring at them. It took Japan a few seconds to take in his ragged appearance but he noticed the cuts all across his skin and his bare feet and tattered clothes.

"So you guys are here, then?" he raised an eyebrow. "Japan, America, albino potato, and England..." He humphed and adjusted the cloak on his shoulders. "It's good to see you all."

"Uh... yeah." Prussia replied awkwardly. "Good to see you... too?"

Romano rolled his eyes, grumbling something indistinct and slumping onto the floor. His eyes closed and he drew the black cloak around himself, frowning and muttering inaudibly.

England narrowed his eyes and turned to Spain. "Mind explaining him?

America nodded in agreement. "Yeah... he's acting kinda weird."

Spain sighed, running a hand through his hair. "About that? I don't know... I only found him recently, you see. And he's not telling me anything." He looked back over at Romano with a frown before it turned into a gloomy stare. "I don't want to scare him off or anything... it just-it seems like he'll run off at any moment."

"And we can't have that, now, can we?" Prussia sighed, brow furrowing in confusion. "You're right about him, though... he's acting way too... not-Romano for my liking."

England looked over to Romano, making an annoyed noise in the back of his throat before walking over. They all watched as England went over, obviously trying to persuade Romano on some matter. In the end, Romano said nothing, turning away and huddling under the cloak again.

"Let's go," England called back loudly. "The others will be here soon. And we wouldn't want to keep them waiting, now, would we?"

He glanced irritably back at Romano whose only reply was, "Go fuck a goose."

Spain walked over to Romano and gently picked him up. Romano glared fiercely in protest but otherwise said nothing. "You're in no condition to walk," he muttered back to the other, "so stop complaining already."

Looking over at the two of them, America spoke up, "I can carry him if you want. You're probably the strongest one in our group anyways, Spain... you'll need both hands about you."

Spain looked between America and Romano a moment, knowing full well that he could carry Romano and fight at the same time, but Romano probably wouldn't want him to. He was acting just too weird... he sighed and handed Romano over to America, despite the quiet sputter of protest.

They started to walk down the hallway again, and Romano eventually rested his head against America's shoulder, eyes hazy and expression distant. America swore he could feel each of Romano's ribs poking at him. He worriedly looked down at him from time to time, but the Italian said nothing. He just stared ahead while they continued down the path.

Suddenly, in front of them, the monster Spain fought earlier reappeared in front of them. They all stood still and Romano stared up at intently. The thing made some sort of garbled attempt at speech and Romano stared at it for several long moments, eyes getting wider with each passing second.

Before they could attack it, the monster vanished just as quickly as it disappeared.

Romano suddenly jumped out of America's grasp and started walking to the head of the group.

"H-hey, wait a sec!" Prussia called.

Romano didn't look back. "Hurry and keep up. They're coming. If we stay here any longer we'll be in danger."

The others stared at him but didn't question it as he led them away, despite the flurry of questions floating through all of their minds.


	17. Man In Black

**Kind of an intense chapter today... Next chapter will be posted on Friday or Monday, depending on when I get it up! **

[insert text] = character's thoughts during a flashback or memory

**Without further ado, enjoy~! And don't forget to review~**

* * *

Veneziano's eyes fluttered open and the light from his eyes vanished. He stood up and looked around. They were in the other mansion now. Good. He turned to his other companions. "Everyone okay?" he asked.

They all nodded. "Which way do we go now, Italy?" Russia wondered, swinging his pipe around childishly.

Veneziano folded up the map and tucked it into his pocket. "Well, uh... let's see..." He took a deep breath to collect himself, trying to will his brother's memories to come to him. He had to see what he had seen in order to find him and save him... the others too, of course.

_A lone figure sat on the ground of stone._ [Romano!] He_ held his arm close to his chest, crying softly, and looking utterly confused. "I-I thought... I did it right this time! Wha-what..."_

_A figure approached him, dressed in all black. He knelt down with a sad sigh. "I knew this would happen."_

_Apparntly, that made Romano angry. "Sh-shut up... SHUT UP! THIS IS YOUR FAULT! Y-YOU..."_

_The man shook his head, picking up an object from the ground._ [Is that a... a hand...?] _"Come now, don't be like that... if you would've fought a little harder, yo would've made it. Now come, give me your wrist._

_Romano sniffled and tentatively held out the arm clutched to his chest. Where his hand should be was instead a bloody stump, the appendage held by the other man. "This may hurt a bit." he said, withdrawing a needle and thread from his coat._

_The man began to stitch Romano's hand and writ back together. When he was done, he put his hand over it and murmured a spell. The wrist glowed purple and Romano screamed in agony. "You don't have to worry about losing your limbs... or anything else, for that matter. I can always stitch you back together again..." _

Veneziano jolted out of the memory with start, breaths shaking and heavy. "Italy?" Germany's voice broke through his troubled thoughts. "Are you alright?"

He breathed slowly and finally managed a nod. "Y-yeah... I... I think so..."

He rubbed his wrist absently, a dull pain shooting through it. "Come on... let's... let's go look for the others... hurry..." he added the last part in a mumble and took off towards the white marble staircase.

* * *

Japan couldn't quite figure out what was wrong with Romano. He didn't seem tense or edgy. In fact, he seemed strangely calm about the whole situation. Even though it looked like his skin had been sliced open and crudely put back together, what with all of the cuts on him.

Romano looked so at ease... but why did it set him off so much?

Japan shook the thoughts from his mind and continued walking. England was walking almost directly next to Romano, but the Italian kept moving so that he couldn't be directly beside him. It seemed to put England in an even worse mood.

Romano led them back to where they had entered from earlier, and began walking towards the room that held the set of stairs Spain had taken him from. He moved to open the door and Spain laid his hand over Romano's.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Spain.

Romano scoffed. "Opening the door."

Spain bit his lip to keep his temper under control; but he was used to having to do that with Romano. "Where are we going, Romano?"

"To the courtyard." he said, opening the door with a soft click. He stepped inside, wrenching his hand from Spain's.

The Spanish nation sighed and they had no choice but to follow. Next to the staircase that led Spain to Romano earlier, there was the same beautiful staircase that seemed to have disappeared. It spiralled upward to the sky, with never-ending twists and turns. It was made of glass, and light shot through it, lighting up the whole room. America finally broke the silence. "We're going up?"

Romano nodded and took a step onto the first step of the staircase. "Yeah. And watch your step. It can give way at any moment."

With that bit of cheery information, the other nations followed Romano's example, each of them only stepping one at a time, and never on the same step together. This pattern continued for what seemed like hours until Romano finally reached a wooden door at the top of the steps. Spain walked over to him, gulping nervously and trying not to look down on the glass platform.

"Where the hell's that door lead to?" Prussia demanded.

The Italian gave him a half-smile and twisted the doorknob. "I told you before. It leads to the courtyard."

"Well, what's the courtyard?" England asked, beginning to get annoyed with Romano's cryptic attitude.

He turned back to the door. "You'll find out," he simply said, pushing the door open.

From what Japan could tell, they were on the roof of he mansion. The cool breeze ruffled his hair, and the sun was setting... it reminded him of when he came into the mansion first, when he saw that blood-red sunset, everything in nature trying to warn him away from the house.

But they didn't listen. That's why they were stuck there. Or at least, they were, until now.

Ahead of them, spanning across the rooftop, was large, iron-barred gate, standing at least ten feet tall. They walked towards it and Spain frowned. "How are we going to get to the other side?"

Romano was already on it. He walked over to the bars in the gate and put his foot through, twisting it around as a sort of inspection. When he was satisfied, he slipped through the bars quite easily, smirking at them from the other side. "Nice trick," Prussia grumbled. "Now get us in there too."

Romano rolled his eyes but complied with the order, unlatching the gate so that it could swing open.

The gate led into what Romano said was the courtyard, and Japan was rather amazed by it. There was grass covering all of the ground, instead of stone brick like the house was made of, and along the edges of the flat roof were bushes and hedges, vines intertwined around gate.

There were large, gray statues of people in the courtyard too, all lined up, and all in different positions. They were lined up by a stone pathway which cut through the grass like a knife. He walked over to one of the statues, admiring the detail of it, unaware of the strange look Romano gave him.

It took him a few moments but he finally saw it. The statue was an exact replica of himself.

He was standing in a defensive position, stone eyes filled with cold fury. One hand was gripping his shoulder tightly, the other holding his katana in front of himself as a failed attempt to ward off whatever was attacking him. There was a stone plaque on the platform the statue was on.

"_Kiku Honda. 5, Library."_

Japan jumped back in surprise, staring at it bewildered. "Wh-what...?"

Romano smiled sadly. "Your fate is set in stone."

America looked t all the statues in horror. "What doe that even mean...? Why are there statues of us? Romano! Tell us what's going on!"

"Roma, please..." Spain said imploringly. Romano said nothing, eyes still set on the sky. The red-tinted, pastel-colored sky.

It was eerily beautiful, noted Japan, especially with the tense silence.

He looked towards Romano, whose gaze was still fixed on the sunset. His body was shaking lightly and he let out a sigh, slowly sinking to the ground. He muttered something incoherently, clutching at his chest and hitting the round. Spain rushed over to him in an instant and they all followed.

"Romano, what's wrong?" he asked in worry for his former colony, shifting him into his lap.

Romano's head lolled back and his lifeless eyes smiled up at the sky. He raised a finger and pointed upwards. "Ryuzuu is coming."

His body went limp in Spain's arms and he remained still with that cold smile and those cold eyes staring back up at him. Spain shook the unresponsive body. "Roma? Romano! Th-this isn't funny!"

Japan looked towards the courtyard entrance, where there was a mass of the monsters. They screeched and clawed at the gate. "We have company!" Japan yelled over the noise.

They all drew their weapons, sans Spain, who lifted Romano gently into his arms and backed away. "Dammit, not now! Romano! ROMANO!"

There was still no response. A cruel laugh rang through the air. "_Congratulations! Congratulations..."_ Prussia tensed up, eyes darting towards where the voice came from. A black-clad figure floated down from the sky and landed in front of them. He extended hi hand to Romano and Spain. Romano was lifted into the air by a purple light, despite Spain's protest.

The man snapped his fingers and Romano's eyes shot open. He looked to Spain and the others, then to the man in black. "N-no no, please, not here no in front on them-"

The man ignored him and pulled out a violin from seemingly nowhere. He began to play a haunting tune, one that Spain recognized from when he'd first entered the mansion. Romano was screaming and covering his ears, writhing in the air as a purple glow surrounded him. The nations couldn't move; they were frozen to the spot.

The cloak on his back billowed behind him, the hood flipping up to cover his face. A scythe formed in his hand, long, dark and sharp. His eyes glared dully at the ground, the same purple as the aura surrounding them.

A chesire grin lit up the other man's face. "Romano?"

"_Yes, sir?_" came the dull, haunted reply. Romano lifted his face, a cruel, curious expression on his face.

He snapped his fingers again. "Kill them."


End file.
